Trust the Instinct
by OneVictoriousWolf
Summary: Jade West is the new girl at Hollywood Arts. Ryder Daniels is -was- the awkward outcast with his best friend Robbie Shapiro. One night when he just thinks he and Robbie are searching for a body in the woods, something happens that changes Ryder Daniels' life forever. Victorious Style of Teen Wolf. Rated T to be safe. Jade/Ryder and multiple other pairings.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: So, fans of Jyder or whatever, I am planning on making a Jyder story based on Teen Wolf. It's basically like a Teen Wolf: Victorious style story. However, I am trying to decide who should be who. Here is who I think should be who. If you have something different in mind, tell me and I'll make some changes. **

**Jade as Allison **

**Ryder as Scott**

**Andre as Boyd**

**Beck as Isaac**

**Robbie as Stiles **

**Cat or Trina as Lydia**

**Tori or Trina as Erica (a former epileptic who got bitten by Derek Hale and tried to destroy Allison and Scott's relationship and kill Lydia) **

**Evan as Aidan (Season 3 of Teen Wolf) **

**Danny or regular as Jackson **

**So, I need help on two of them. Let me know who you think should be who if you got an idea of Teen Wolf or have Teen Wolf. Btw, there'll be some changes. They are listed below. **

**Ryder is not really this popular guy and is an outsider with his best friend, Robbie **

**Cat is not this ditzy confused girl. She is quite smart. **

**Jade is not too mean and does not die like Allison did (Sorry for the spoiler for those who watch teen wolf and hasn't seen the episode Insatiable) **


	2. Chapter 2

**_Jade - Allison _**

**_Ryder - Scott_**

**_Robbie - Stiles _**

**_Cat - Lydia _**

**_Tori - Erica _**

**_Danny (Cat's New Boyfriend) - Jackson _**

**_Alan Mitchell - Matt _**

**_Beck - Isaac_**

**_Andre - Boyd_**

**_Steven Carson (iParty With Victorious) - Derek Hale _**

**_A/N: There will be some changes. Some characters may be OCC and Tori is a bitch; deal with it (That was to the people who review on stories where Tori is a bitch saying, "That's not even how Tori acts like"). _**

_**Disclaimer: I do not own Victorious or Teen Wolf or the characters. Teen Wolf belongs to Jeff Davis and Victorious belongs to Dan Schneider. **_

Ryder Daniels was fixing the laces of his lacrosse stick. The work is fast and precise. Fixing the last loop, Ryder gets up and stands with the re-threaded stick. Dressed in only a pair of athletic shorts, his lithe frame may still have some filling out to do, but it's easy to see that he'll soon grow into a strikingly hanfsome young meh with deep brown eyes yet designed to melt the hearts of hopeful young girls.

Scooping a ball up from his bedroom floor, he gives the lacrosse stick a spin, testing his handiwork. A moment later, the re-threaded stick lands next to a school backpack while Ryder pumps out a few chin-ups at the bar mounted at the doorway of his closet.

Then, toothbrush in his mouth, he reaches for the window sill to pull it down. But he stops when he hears a sound. He cocks his ear to listen again. Under the whispering wind, he hears movement...a strange shuffling noise.

Ryder silently slips into the hallway and peers into another bed room. His mother, Melissa Daniels, late thirties, both remarkably strong and remarkably beautiful, sleeps over the covers of her bed, fully clothed as if she'd just passed out after having walked in. Ryder eases her door shut.

The glass door to the porch slides open. Now armed with a baseball bat, Ryder starts for the yard. Breath held tight, he moves cautiously off the porch steps.

The sound of movement stops him cold.

Holding still, he peers left and right as he white-knuckles the bat, ready to swing. When his eyes wander up to the side of the house he sees a dark figure climbing the vine wrapped trellis. Before Ryder even knows what's happening, the figure breaks free and comes hurtling towards him.

Ryder hollers in terror as an upside down face appears in front of him. He almost swings the bat before realizing who it is.

"Robbie! What the hell are you doing?" Ryder asked loudly.

"You weren't answering your phone... Why do you have a bat?"

"I thought you were a predator."

"A pre..." Robbie didn't believe what Ryder had just said.

Feet caught in the trellis, Robbie hangs in front of Ryder. A sixteen year-old with boundless energy, he continues talking upside down as if this were a perfectly normal way to have a conversation.

"I know it's late, but you gotta' hear this. I saw my dad leave twenty minutes ago. Dispatch called. They'rebringing in every officer from the Los Angeles department and even State police." Robbie informed Ryder still hanging upside down.

"For what?" Ryder asks.

"Two joggers found a body in the woods."

"They found a dead body?"

"No, they found a body of water." Robbie gets up after falling. "Yes, dumb-ass, a dead body."

Reaching up to pull himself free of the trellis, he lands on his feet in front of Ryder.

"You mean like murdered?"

"Nobody knows yet. Just that it was a girl, probably in her twenties.

"Hold on. If they found a body, what are they looking for now?

"That's the best part. They only found half."

Soon, a beat-up jeep skids to a halt just beyond the heavily wooded entrance to the Los Angeles preserve. Robbie gets out with a flashlight in hand. Ryder follows, hurrying to keep up with him as he charges into the hiking paths.

"Are we seriously doing this?" Ryder asks.

"You're the one always witching that nothing ever happens in this town. Besides, it's our last night of summer freedom."

"I was trying to get a good night's sleep for practice tomorrow."

"Right, because sitting on the bench is such a grueling effort."

"No because I'm playing this year. In fact, I'm going to make starting lineup." Ryder informed him.

"That's the spirit. Everyone should have a dream even a pathetically unrealistic one."

"Just out of curiosity, which half of the body are we looking for?" Ryder asks.

"Huh. I didn't even think about that."

"And what if whoever killed the girl is still out here?"

"Also something I didn't think about."

"Comforting to know you planned this out with your usual attention to detail."

Racing up the paths, Ryder's breath begins to shorten.

"Maybe the severe asthmatic should be the one holding the flashlight."

Robbie slows, but not because of Ryder. Outside a clearing, yellow police tape marks off a perimeter under floodlights.

Grinning, Robbie looks to Ryder who can't help grinning back. Crouching low, they circle the crime scene looking for the best vantage point. But they freeze at the sound of zipper being pulled up on a body bag. Two bare feet are momentarily visible as the zipper pulls closed and officers lift the body up into the Medical Examiner's van.

"Is that the second half of the body?" Ryder was curious.

"No, they would've called off the search. Come on."

He and Ryder retreat from the perimeter back into the dark of the woods. As they crest a hill, Ryder pauses. Below, flashlight beams scour the shadows, the police search just ahead. Unable to stand still, Robbie races forward.

"Robbie, wait up." Ryder calls out for Robbie but Robbie doesn't wait.

But quickly running out of air, Ryder pulls out his inhaler from his jacket. While he pauses to take a hit from it, Robbie disappears up ahead. Then, realizing he's left Ryder behind, he slows to look back when barking spins him around.

Fanged teeth snap ferociously at him, sending him staggering away and falling right onto his butt. Search dogs yank back against their leashes just before tearing them apart. "Stay right there!" A state trooper calls out.

Ryder freezes. It's not him the State Trooper was yelling at, however. Peering out from behind a tree, he sees Robbie has run right into a search party. Flashlight beams in his eyes, the boy puts his hand in the air as large, threatening figures hurry forward.

Deputy Shapiro steps into the light past the growling search dogs. Robbie shrinks under his glare. "Hold on, hold on, this little delinquent belongs to me."

"Do you listen in on all of my phone calls?"

"No... Not the boring ones."

"And where's your usual partner in crime?"

"Who? Ryder? Ryder's home. He said he wanted to get a good night's sleep for the first day back at school."

"Ryder? You out there?" Deputy Shapiro calls out.

Hidden in the shadows, Ryder doesn't move.

"All right, young man, I'm taking you back to your car and we're going to discuss a little something called Invasion of Privacy." Deputy Shapiro was still suspicious.

Watching Robbie get escorted away, Ryder steps out from the cover of the trees with an irritated sigh.

Starting back, he tries to find his way out of the woods, but with each step, it becomes increasingly difficult to see in the pitch black.

At a fork in the path, he pauses in confusion. He's about to start of down one direction when he hears a rustling among the trees.

Ryder holds still. Breath tightening more from fear than asthma, he reaches into his pocket for his inhaler when he hears an odd rumbling. The sound of sudden and furious movement rising in volume velocity until half a dozen deer charge out of the darkness, soaring past him with the thunderous beet of hooves trampling the ground.

Startled, Ryder drops the inhaler.

Then, once again alone in the dark, he kneels down to the leaf-covered ground to search for the inhaler. Pulling out his cellphone, he lights the display.

Guiding the phone's light over the ground, Ryder doesn't find his inhaler but does manage to briefly illuminate a face.

Dead eyes peer up from the pale, yet beautiful face of a young woman torn in half.

Crying out in shock, Ryder lurches up, tripping on his own feet and tumbling over the unearthed roots of a tree. Suddenly, he's propelled down a leaf-covered slope, rolling head over heels right into a creek bed.

Pushing himself up from the icy water, a breathless Ryder looks up at the embankment down which he just fell. He's about to stand when a low growl stops him moving, and stops him breathing. _**Something**_ crouches in the shadows right near him. It was something very large.

Ryder slowly begins to turn around when a shape hurtles toward him.

For the briefest instant there's a flash of razor-sharp twists forward, crying out. Then, seeming to disentangle himself from the attacking animal, he scrambles back to his feet and into a panicked run.

Whipping through branches tearing at his skin and clothes, he races blindly through the forest until he reaches a barbed wire fence.

With barely a second to coordinate his effort, Ryder lurches over the wire, shirt catching and tearing across the barbs.  
Crashing out of the woods and into the road, Ryder whirls around to face an oncoming car. The driver swerves, almost clipping him. Horn blaring, the car hurtles past.

Breathless, Ryder backs away from the woods. With the world spinning around him, dark blood sticks his tattered shirt to his back over a deep and vicious looking bite.

Struggling for calm, he whips around when he hears the strangest sound. THE HOWLING OF A WOLF. It echoes through the hills, over the trees, across the rooftops, and into the night...


	3. Chapter 3

**_Okay, there are some changes. Andre will be Jackson instead of Danny from Cat's New Boyfriend. _**

A school bell rings in the crowded hallway. At their lockers, Ryder takes off his backpack and pulls his shirt up a few inches to show Robbie the bandage on his lower back.

"It was too dark to see much, but I'm pretty sure it was a wolf." Ryder told him.

"A wolf bit you?" Robbie asked. "No. Not a chance."

"I heard a wolf howling." Ryder stated.

"No, you didn't."

"What do you mean 'No I didn't'?" Ryder asked. "How do you know what I heard?"

"California doesn't have wolves; not for the last sixty years."

"Really...?"

"Yes, really, there are no wolves in California."

Ryder responds, "Well, if you don't believe me about the wolf, then you're definitely not going to believe me when I tell you I saw the body."

Robbie's jaw drops, "You...what? Are you kidding me?"

"I wish." Ryder answered. "I'm going to have nightmares about it for a month."

"That's freaking awesome. This is seriously the best thing that's happened to this town since..." Robbie looks past Ryder to see Cat Valentine walking their way. "...since the birth of Cat Valentine who's walking toward us right now."

A drop-dead gorgeous junior named Cat Valentine walks the corridor like it was a fashion show runway in Milan.

"Hey Cat, how are you? You look..." Robbie starts talking to her, but she walks right past them. "...like you're going to ignore me." Ryder laughs and Robbie glares at him, saying, "You're the cause of this, you know, dragging me down to your nerd depths. I'm a nerd by association. I've been Scarlet-nerded by you."

Blending into the crowd, they head to first period.

**_{First Period: English}_**

Ryder takes the desk next to Robbie as the teacher, Mr. Curtis, walks in. "As you all know by now, there was indeed a body found in the woods last night. I'm sure you're eager little minds are coming up with all sorts of macabre scenarios to how it happened, but I've been told that the police have a suspect in custody." Mr. Curtis speaks. Ryder looks at Robbie who shrugs; news to him as well.

Mr. Curtis continues, "A vagrant with a long history of psychiatric disorders was discovered camping out in the woods near where the body was found which means your undivided attention can be given to the syllabus outlining the semester on your desks. Read it now, and by read, I don't mean skim."

The sound of paper pages flipping rumbles toward Ryder as students start reading. It's strangely loud, causing his ears to twitch especially when a cell phone rings. He glances up and the other students quietly read the syllabus. Ryder appears to be the only one noticing the ringing. Gazing about, he can't seem to find the source until his eyes fall on the windows of the classroom.

Across the quad, Ryder sees Jade Wests, sixteen and radiating with an innocent beauty. When she puts a cell phone to her ear, it becomes obvious that, despite the closed window and the distance, this is the ringing Ryder is somehow able to hear. More astonishingly, Ryder can hear both Jade _and _her caller, their voices echoing with a tinny effect.

(Jade - Italic, Caller - Bold, Principal - Underlined)

_"Mom, three calls on my first day is a little overdoing it." _

**"Just making sure you're there okay and you got everything you need." **

But Jade digs through her bag, becoming alarmed, _"I have everything except a pen. Oh, my god, I didn't actually forget a pen."_

**"Don't panic. I'm sure you can borrow one from another student." **

Jade looks up for a second to see the principal walking over to her, _"Okay, okay, I gotta go. Love ya." _

Unable to take his eyes off the extraordinary girl, Ryder watches the school's principal joins her on the steps.

"Sorry to keep you waiting." The principal guides her across the quad, their conversation becoming clearer to Ryder with every step. "So, you were saying San Francisco isn't where you grew up?"

_"No, but we stayed for more than a year which is unusual in my family. We always bounce around a lot because of my dad's work." _Even when Jade and the principal disappear from view, Ryder hears the clatter of the building door, the clicking of their heels on the tile floor of the hall.

"Well, hopefully, Los Angeles is your last stop for a while." The door opens, causing the rest of the class to look up. Jade and the principle walk in.

The principle announces, "Class, this is our new student Jade West. Please do your best to make her feel welcome."

Ryder barely breathes as Jade heads for the one empty desk left in the room; _right behind him_. She puts her notebook down, and then glances up to Ryder turned toward her, holding out a pen.

With a relieved, but curious smile, she takes it from him. "Thanks." She speaks. Ryder gives her a nod. Turning around, his gaze focuses on Robbie's desk, where his friend's sunglasses sit. In the mirrored lenses, Ryder can see Jade reflected behind him and he can't take his eyes off her.

"Okay, let's begin with Kafka..."

**_{Cafeteria}_**

Silence, then the doors of the cafeteria push open. As Ryder steps in, the cacophonies of hungry high school students slam into him. Every sound assaults him with pin-drop clarity.

"Are you alright?" Robbie asks Ryder, who is just standing there. Overwhelmed, Ryder doesn't even hear Robbie. His hands come up to his ears to cover when he sees Jade in the room, paying for her food. The cashier breaks a roll of quarters, but the coins spill to the floor. Ryder hears each one plink against the tile. Jade immediately kneels to help the embarrassed cashier, giving a good-hearted smile to the grateful woman while the other students just stand by and wait impatiently.

Then Jade notices Ryder and they connect eyes. Somehow, just this look from her seems to return from his hearing to normal. She starts to smile back, recognizing him. But then Cat Valentine swoops in front of her. (Jade - Italics, Cat - Underlined)

"That jacket is absolutely killer."Cat compliments. "Where did you get it?"

_"My mom was a buyer for a boutique back in San Francisco." _

"You're sitting with me." Taking Jade by the arm, she guides her to the popular table. Andre Harris, Cat's boyfriend, pulls her toward his lab, but she brushes him off, still talking to Jade.

A few tables away, Ryder sits with Robbie and their friend Rebecca Harlow, better known as Harley. "Can somebody tell me how the new girl is here all of five minutes and she's already at Cat's table?" Harley asks.

"That's because she's hot. Beautiful people herd together." Robbie remarks.

"Is that why Cat's not herding with you?"

"Cat is a long-term project, okay, and trust me; I've got all the patience in the world for a high yield investment like her."

"Well, I don't think the New Girl's that pretty." Harley points out and turns to Ryder. "Ryder, do you think she's pretty? Ryder?" He doesn't even blink, attention consumed by Jade.

Robbie smirks, "I'd take that as a yes."

Head cocked slightly, Ryder turns in the conversation across the room, voices coming into focus. (Jade - Italics, Andre - Underlined, Cat - Bold).

_"A party?" _

"It's Friday night. We could go together."

_"I can't. It's Family Night this Friday. But thanks for asking." _

"Are you sure? Everyone's going after the scrimmage game."

_"You mean like football?" _

"Football is a joke at Hollywood Arts. The sport here is Lacrosse; we won the State Championship the last three years."

**"...because of a certain caption." **Cat pointed out.

"Every season starts with a scrimmage to decide the new first string. Do you ever watch Lacrosse?"

_"I'm actually not sure how it's played other than well, violently." _Robbie notices Ryder watching Cat's table intently; not merely staring, but seeming to listen.

"Maybe you should just come see for yourself. We have practice today. You don't have to be anywhere after school, do you?" 

_"Well, no..." _

**"Perfect, you're coming." **Cat interrupted her.

**{Lacrosse Practice}**

A whistle blows and the Lacrosse team's assistant Coach gathers the team on the field, Robbie and Ryder are lagging along.

"Just think about this. If you play I'll have no one to talk to on the bench. You're really gonna do that to your best friend?" Robbie asked.

"I can't sit out again. My whole life is sitting on the sidelines. This season, I make my first string." Heading for the field, he pauses to notice Cat climbing the bleachers, and stepping right behind her is Jade.

"Daniels! You're on the goal!" The coach shouts at Ryder.

He trots over to the coach, a man with little comprehension of the difficulties of teenage life. "But I never played goal." Ryder informs the coach.

"I know. Scoring some shots will give the boys a confidence boost. It's a first day back thing. Get them energized, jazzed up.

"What about me?"

"Try not to take any in the face." Stepping into the net, Ryder glances to the bleachers, where Jade watches with Cat, eyes focusing on them.

**"Him?"** He hears Cat ask, hearing going into sync.** "I'm not sure who he is. Why?"**

_"He's in my English class." _Ryder looks up, shocked to hear Jade asking about him. But with his hearing momentarily turned up, he flinches at the whistle blow, sound ringing through his skull.

One of the bigger player's charges forward as the Assistant Coach passes the ball to him. Catching it, he whips his stick forward, hurling the ball toward the goal.

Still reeling, from the whistle, Ryder looks up too late to see the ball soaring toward him. It bounces right off the helmet and into the net. The team laughs wickedly, even the coach snickers. With cheeks burning under his mask, Ryder steals himself for the next player. When the whistle blows again, he's ready. The assistant Coach passes the ball to her who catches it and fires it right at the goal.

Ryder moves startlingly fast, almost an instantaneous reaction. Then he notices the player staring at him with a mixture of disappointment and surprise. Ryder has the ball; he caught it. When the next player takes the shot, Ryder catches the ball again, then again, and again. Nothing can get past him.

In the bleachers, Jade and Cat sit forward. Jade compliments, "He seems like he's pretty good."

"Very good..." Cat adds. Intrigued, Cat keeps her gaze locked on Ryder who now stands with a far more confident posture until Andre pushes to the head of the line. Glaring at Ryder, he practically strangles the lacrosse stick with his gloves.

Ryder mutters, "Oh, god..."

The Assistant Coach tosses the ball up. Andre launches forward, catching the ball and spinning around to fire it at the goal, but Ryder moves with supernatural precision. The ball lands right in the pocket of the goalie stick.

Robbie lets out a holler, jumping on the bench. In the bleachers, Cat stands and gives a whoop as well causing Andre to throw a look at her. She returns his glare with a sly smile, a warning to step up his game. Grinning, Ryder gives the goalie stick a whirl, spinning it with a flick of his wrist and sending the ball soaring right into the pocket of the stunned Assistant Coach's stick.

**_{In the Woods}_**

Ryder retraces his steps from last night with Robbie following behind him. Ryder is telling him his point of view at Lacrosse practice, "I don't know what it was. I mean, I felt like I had all the time in world to catch the ball. That's not the only weird thing; I mean I can hear stuff I shouldn't be able to hear, and I can smell things."

"You can smell things like what?"

"Like the mint mojito gum in your pocket."

"I don't have any." Robbie pulls out a lint-covered piece of wrapped gum.

"So, all this started with the bite?" Robbie asked.

"What if it's an infection? What if my body is flooding with adrenaline before I fall into shock?" Ryder asked. "I knew I should have gone to the E.R."

"I've actually heard of this." Robbie responded. "It's a specific kind of infection."

"Are you serious?"

"All the symptoms add up. I think it's called Lycanthropy."

"What's that? Is that bad? It sounds bad."

"It is, but only once a month."

"It happens once a month?" Ryder asked, examining the ground, moving leaves left and right.

"Yes, on the night of the full moon."

Ryder looks at him and then gets it, "You're an ass." He slaps him on the arm.

"Hey, you're the one who heard a wolf howling."

"There could be something seriously wrong with me."

"I know! You're a werewolf!" Robbie suddenly scoffs. "Okay, obviously, I'm kidding, but if you see me in shop class melting down all the silver I can find, it's because Friday's a full moon."

Ryder glances around. "I swear this was it. The body was here. The deer came running, I dropped my inhaler..." Ryder trails off.

Robbie suggests, "Maybe the killer moved the body."

"If he did, I hope he left my inhaler. Those things are like eight bucks."

Robbie taps him on the arm, bringing his attention to a figure standing just a few yards away."

Derek Hale, nineteen and unquestionably handsome, has a rougher look than the cleanly shaven Los Angeles boys.

"What are you doing here?" Derek asks bluntly. Both Ryder and Robbie are too stunned to speak at first. Derek continues, "This is private property."

Robbie responds, "Sorry, we didn't know."

"We were just looking for something." Ryder informed. "Forget it. Sorry to bother you."

As they're turning to go, Derek tosses an object to Ryder which was his inhaler. When he looks up, Derek is already walking away. Ryder then starts talking to Robbie, "Come on. I have to get to work."

Robbie stops him, "Dude that was Derek Hale. You remember, right? He's only a few years older than us."

"What?" Ryder asks Robbie, who is suddenly interested of the guy they have seen just seconds ago.

"His family; they all burned to death

in a fire like ten years ago. I remember the cops pulling him out to tell him." Robbie explains.

"I wonder what he's doing back." Ryder eyes the inhaler in his hand, closing his fist in it.


	4. Chapter 4

Inside the town's lone veterinary clinic, Ryder flips the sign on the door to CLOSED and then grabs a few packages off the reception desk. The door to a storage room opens into the corridor. Ryder backs out, hauling a huge bag of kitty litter. Setting it against the wall, he takes out a set of keys and unlocks the next door. But just before pulling it open, he pauses, hand gripping the doorknob as he listens to the utterly silent clinic. And then he hears it; rain, the pattering of drops on the roof.

Ryder twists the knob and opens the door. He barely has a foot inside the room when the cages filled with cats come alive with activity. The frightened felines suddenly bare their teeth, hissing and clawing frenetically at the cage doors. All of them focused on Ryder, their backs arched, struck with absolute terror. Stunned, he staggers out of the room, slamming the door shut. Retreating to the waiting room, Ryder can still hear the pandemonium coming from inside when a hammering spins him around.

Standing outside and banging on the glass good with her fist is Jade. Rain-soaked, it's nevertheless easy to see that she's crying and in a visible panic. Quickly unlocking the door, Ryder lets her in as she tries to explain through tears what happened. "I didn't see it. I took my two seconds to switch songs on my iPod and this dog...it came out of nowhere."

"Okay, it's alright. Do you remember where it happened so I can send animal control out to find it?" He asked.

"No. I mean, yes, I know where I hit it. But the dog..."

"Right, where is it?"

"It's in my car." Following Jade to her car under the now drizzling rain, Ryder opens the back seat door to reveal an injured stray. Hackles raised, the frightened lab mix is clearly in pain. Jade reaches in to pick him up but the dog snaps at her. She flinches back, stepping right into Ryder's arms.

"Are you okay?" He asks her. She nods, looking up at Ryder behind her, his hands on her forearms, fingers lightly touching her soft skin. He assures her, "He's just frightened."

Jade remarks, "That makes two of us."

"Let me see if I have better luck." Once he lets her go, Ryder steps toward the open door oddly calm.

She warns, "Careful." As he connects eye with the dog, something happens; a sound drops out around him all except for the dog's nervous panting. Then its harsh gasps begin to ease as some sort of primal communication occurs between them. For the briefest moment, his eyes take on a strangely _yellow_ tint, like that of a wolf.

In response, the dog lowers its body submissively, yielding to the obviously dominant animal. With Jade watching amazement, Ryder gathers the dog into his arms and carries him into the vet's office.

Inside, Ryder gently lies the injured animal down on the examining table. Jade stays back, watching him inspect the dog while petting it, doing an expert job of calming it.

"I think his leg is broken. I can splint it now. I can give him a painkiller and then let the doctor take a look in the morning." He says. Jade steals glances at him, looking on with admiration as he works. But Ryder doesn't notice, terrified to glance at the beautiful girl. When he finally does look up, he sees she's hugging herself, soaked and obviously freezing. "I have a T-shirt in my bag.

"Oh, I don't want to trouble you." Jade responds, but Ryder is already reaching into his bag for the shirt. Jade takes it with a small smile. When she steps in the hall for privacy, Ryder can't help but notice her reflection in a wall mirror. As she's pulling the wet shirt off, he catches sight of her bare back. Looking away, Ryder notices the dog staring up at him.

"What? I didn't see anything." He whispered. The dog lies back down, not convinced. Jade comes back, now wearing his shirt and no longer shivering.

"Thanks for doing this. I feel really stupid." She thanks him.

"How come...?" Ryder asked.

"I don't know, for freaking out like a total girl."

"You _are_ a girl." Ryder emphasizes.

"I freaked out like a girly girl, and I'm not a girly girl."

Ryder questions, "What kind of girl are you?"

"I'm tougher than that. At least I thought I was."

"I'd be freaked out too. In fact, I'd probably cry. And not like a man. I'd cry like the girlish girl cry. It would be pathetic." He joked, getting a laugh out of her.

"Yeah, sure, whatever..."

He finishes wrapping the dog's leg and says, "So, it looks like he's going to live. I'm pretty sure he'll even let you pet him if you want."

Jade nods reluctantly, "I don't think so."

"Come on. You don't want him to sue; this breed is very litigious."

Jade approaches as she tentatively reaches out to stroke the dog's neck. Calm now, the dog even licks her hand. "See? He likes you." He says. He watches Jade, unable to takes his eyes off of her.

Jade notices his stare, "What?"

"Sorry." Ryder apologized. "You have an eyelash on your cheek."

"Oh. It's from the crying." She wipes at her cheek, but the lash is still there. Ryder shakes his head. She tries again; still there. So Ryder reaches with his thumb to brush the lash from her cheek. "Thanks." He nods, hand coming down like he's not sure what to do with it.

While he walks her back to her car, he starts to ask a question when she opens the car door. "Um...I was wondering...I mean...is it really Family Night on Friday or do you think maybe you'd like to go to that party with me?"

She throws him a curious look, "Family Night was a total lie."

"So, is that a yes? You'll go?"

"Yes." She responds, getting in her car before driving away.

_**[Later]**_

Tearing down the road on his bike, a huge smile nearly splits Ryder's face in half. He's ecstatic, jubilant, but not for long. He slows, smile fading. Something has caught his attention. He eases to a stop on the rain-slick road and holds still. Turning his head up, he takes a quick whiff of the air. Slowly, he turns around to find dark surrounding him on all sides. The road is completely empty and strangely quiet. Then the sound of movement catches his ear. He turns, peering into the woods; nothing. He starts pedaling again, glancing to each side of him as he picks up speed.

Then he notices a shadow moving through the woods, keeping pace with him. When he starts pedaling faster, the strange loping silhouette moves just as fast. Pedaling harder and harder, Ryder pushes the bike to its limits, steel chain threatening to come off. The shadow slows, letting him get ahead. Not at all relieved, Ryder keeps going, looking back to see something large and fast crossing the road just a few yards behind him, diving into the dark of the woods. Now on the other side of the road and driving Ryder's panic higher and higher, it keeps pace with him once again until it disappears.

A breathless Ryder give a last glance back to the woods on both sides and then forward where a truck veers out in front of him, an eighteen wheeler coming from a side of the road. Ryder hits the breaks, the truck looming before him. Bike crashing against the hood of the cab, it flips out and smacks down on the road, metal scraping pavement as it clatters to a stop. The truck driver jumps out, glancing around in panic. But there's nobody on the ground. So he finally peers up where Ryder stands on top of the car.

"What the hell?" The driver is shocked. Breathless, Ryder is too stunned to even answer.

_**[Lacrosse Practice]**_

Amid the players rushing the field, a very late Robbie finds Ryder in the crowd and hurries toward him. "Ryder, wait up! You gotta hear this."

"I'm playing the first elimination, Robbie. Can't it wait?" Ryder asked.

"Just hold on. I overheard my dad on the phone. The fiber analysis report came back from Los Angeles and they found animal hairs on the body from the woods."

"Robbie, I have to go."

"You're not going to believe what the animal was..." But with his helmet off, Ryder disappears in the crowd of other players rushing the field, leaving Robbie to say the next words to himself. "It was a wolf."

Out on the field, the coach shouts for the players, "Alright, gather around." Ryder glances back to the bleachers where students and parents sit to watch the scrimmage. He spots Jade next to Cat. She gives him a quick wave and a smile. He holds up a hand to wave back. "You got a question, Daniels?"

Ryder looks in his direction, "What?"

"You raised your hand."

"Oh no, I was just...nothing. Sorry."

"Alright," The coach starts talking to the rest of the team. "You know how this goes. If you don't make the cut, you're most likely warming the bench the rest of the season. But make first string and you play, your parents are proud, your girlfriend loves you, everything else is cream cheese. Now, show me what you got!"

The whistle blows and the game begins. The pace is fast and brutal. When the ball gets passed to Ryder, Andre comes right after him. Lacrosse sticks smashing down on his gloves, Ryder tumbles forward and slams to the ground, kicking dirt up around him. The whistle stops the play. Andre stands over Ryder, glowering down at him as he picks the ball up with a gloved hand. Teeth clenched behind his mask, Ryder pushes himself up off the ground.

Coach gives the whistle a sharp blow, starting the next play. Ryder and Andre find themselves staring across from each other at the draw, crouched down with their sticks waiting for the Assistant Coach to drop the ball. Ryder moves with shocking speed, grabbing the ball right out from under Andre.

Robbie stands, slowly moving to the sidelines to watch it.

Ryder charges the length of the field. Define lashes out with their sticks, but he parries expertly. Andre catches up and makes a furious stab at stealing the ball. Then with defense converging on him, Ryder twists his lacrosse stick around, keeping the ball safely in the pocket while he literally flips forward, leaping right over the heads of the defense players. Feet landing on the turf, he whirls around; tossing the ball in an over the shoulder shot pass the goalie and right into the net.

The crowd in the bleachers roars with cheering, Jade one her feet along with everyone else except Robbie.

"Daniels, get over here!" Coach calls him over. He trots over to the coach, all eyes on him. "What was that? This is a Lacrosse field. Are you trying out for the gymnastics team?"

He replies, "No Coach."

"Then what the hell was that?"

"I don't know. I was just trying to make the shot."

"Well, you made the shot. And guess what? You just made lineup." Cheers erupt around him. As team members slap him on the back and knock his helmet with their gloves, a deliriously happy Ryder doesn't even notice Andre's furious stare or Robbie's "worry" expression.

_**[Robbie's Room]**_

Fingers click furiously over a keyboard. Eyes locked onto his computer screen, Robbie bounces from one webpage to the other. Words and images pop up on the screen, flashing across his face: _Wolfsbane, Silver Bullets, Lycan, Aconite, _drawings of werewolves in different forms, one mostly human, another massive fur-covered creature and yet another appearing as a normal wolf. Image after image, page after page while the sun is setting on Los Angeles and a full moon begins to rise.

As his room darkens, an increasingly panicked Robbie watches a sheet of paper come out of his printer - a detailed wood carving of a medieval hunter standing over the body of a werewolf, aiming a crossover at the creature. He pulls the page out, staring at it with a look of escalating fear when someone knocks on the door.

Practically leaping out of his chair, he rushes to the door, unlocking it to find Ryder standing out in the hall. "Get in. You have to see this." He pushes Ryder into the room. "I've been reading websites, books and all this information."

As Ryder takes off his jacket, Robbie starts grabbing printouts from his desk, pulling his computer screen around and dozens of open webpages on it. Ryder asks, "How much Adderall have you had?"

"I've had a lot. That doesn't matter. Just listen to this."

"Is this about the body?" Ryder asked. "Did they find who did it?"

"No, they're still questioning people. Even Derek Hale, the guy from the woods, but that's not it."

"What then?"

"Remember the joke the other date? It's not a joke anymore; the wolf, the bite in the woods. I started doing all this reading and...Do you even know what a wolf howls?"

"Should I?" Ryder asked.

"It's a signal. When a wolf is alone, it howls to signal its location to the rest of the pack. So, if you heard it howling, that means there are others, maybe a whole pack of them."

"A whole pack of wolves...?"

"No, a whole pack of _werewolves_."

"You're seriously wasting my time on this? You know, I'm picking up Jade in an hour."

"I saw you on the field, Ryder. What you did wasn't just amazing; it was impossible."

"So, I made a good shot."

"No, you made an incredible shot. The way you moved, the speed, your reflexes - people can't suddenly do that overnight. And then there's the hearing, the senses, and don't think I haven't noticed you don't need you inhaler anymore. You haven't used it since that night."

"I can't think about this now. We'll talk tomorrow, okay?"

"Tomorrow...? Don't you get it? The full moon is tonight." Robbie says.

"What are you trying to do? I just made starting lineup. I have a date with a girl I can't believe actually wants to go out with me. Everything in my life is somehow perfect; why are you trying to ruin it for me?"

"I'm trying to help. With the full moon, it's going to be too hard to resist and there's no going back. You're cursed, Ryder. And it's not only that the moon causes you to change, it's also when your bloodlust will be at its peak."

"Bloodlust...?"

"It's your urge to kill."

"I'm already starting to have an urge to kill, Robbie."

"You need to hear this. The change can be caused by your anger, or anything that raises your pulse and I've never seen anyone raise your pulse like Jade does. You have to cancel your date. You have to call her!" Robbie grabs Ryder's jacket, pulling the cell phone out the pocket.

"What are you doing? Give me that?" He demands.

"I'm just finding her number..."

"_Give it to me_." Ryder demands. Robbie looks up to see Ryder's eyes flash yellow for a brief seconds. His voice low and guttural, he yanks the phone out of Robbie's hand and shoves him against the wall. Pulling back before striking him, Ryder instead lashes out at the desk chair sending it flying across the room, tossed like it weighed nothing. Then, shaking with anger, he gazes up.

"I didn't mean to do that." Ryder apologizes. He starts to help Robbie up, but the boy flinches back. "I'm sorry. Really, I didn't mean it. I have to go. I have to get ready for the party. I'm sorry." Ryder apologizes once again before grabbing his jacket and hurrying out.

Still shaken, Robbie gradually stands. He slowly picks up the desk chair, putting it back. But then he pauses. With a shaky hand, he turns the chair around the reveal _claw marks_, the chair's fabric slashed to ribbons.

_**[Ryder's Room]**_

Towel around his waist, Ryder yanks his closet door open and starts tossing clothes onto his bed. "Big date...?" Melissa Daniels asks, standing at the door.

Ryder turns around and says, "Mom, a little privacy, please?"

"Hold on, what do we have here?" She approaches, feeling his chin with her thumb. "I think it might be time for you to start shaving."

Outside the house, Ryder and his mom can be heard talking. _"I don't even have a razor."_ Then further down the street, their voices take on the same effect as those that Ryder could hear when he was listening in on conversations at school.

"_You better borrow one of mine. I'll go get it. Stay right here."_ No less than a hundred yards away, but still within the line of sight of the house, someone stands beside a black Dodge Challenger, listening in on the conversation; Derek Hale.

_**[Party]**_

In the backyard of a dimly lit house, Ryder and Jade stand awkwardly among a crowd of a drunk and high teenagers. Ryder peers down at the table with the booze.

"So...what do you drink?" Ryder asks, breaking the awkward silence between them.

"Um, I don't know." Jade answers him.

"Me either, actually. Maybe we should try root beer? Wait here, I'll get the keg." Ryder says, walking away after Jade responds with a simple, "Perfect."

Near a blazing fire, Ryder fills two cups at the crowded keg when a sound of a barking dog catches his attention. A huge Rottweiler in the yard next to the door just beyond a chain linked fence, barking at Derek.

He stands behind the fire pit, staring straight at Ryder. But then he shoots a look at the Rottweiler. The dog stops barking _instantly_. Eyes locked on the animal, Derek gives an almost imperceptible no. Tail between its legs, the Rottweiler submissively lowers to a sitting position.

Satisfied, Derek turns back to Ryder, who grips the two overflowing cups in his hands, and for the briefest second, Derek's eyes flash yellow.

"Dude, are you done?" A party-goer asks Ryder. Stunned, Ryder hands off the keg tap to the party-goer. When he looks back to the fire pit, Derek's gone.

Ryder turns, glancing to the other teens in the yard to the chain linked fence and then up to the roof where a shadowy figure seems to disappear just past the chimney. Ryder steps back, trying to see if he actually did just witness Derek leaping twenty feet off the ground, but there's nothing there.

Handing a cup to Jade, Ryder keeps throwing nervous glances back at the outside porch of the house. He takes a gulp of the beer and then coughs, nearly spitting it out. "This tastes terrible." He comments. Laughing, Jade covers her mouth with her hand. "Now I see what they mean by an acquired taste."

"I've actually never been drunk." Jade replies. "I usually go to these parties and just stand there with a Diet coke."

"Robbie and I got drunk on tequila one night. The next morning I felt like I had a flamethrower pointed at my forehead."

"Okay, since neither of us are any good at drinking, how are you at dancing?" Jade asked.

"Much better, infinitely better..." Under the driving pulse of techno, Ryder takes her hand, pulling her into the crowd of dancing teenagers. Then as they begin moving, Jade starts to smile back at him, the usually timid Ryder begins to let go. His hands reach around her waist with other teens pushing them closer. Bodies pressed against each other, her cheek brushes lightly at his. Then through the crowd, Ryder notices Cat dancing with Andre, grinding close to him, her fingers wrapped around the back of his neck. She presses her lips to Andre's, locking him in a passionate kiss. As he eagerly kisses her back, sliding his hands down past her waist, Cat opens her eyes and looks right at Ryder. She's staring at him as she kisses Andre. Unused to the attention of one beautiful girl, much less two, Ryder finds himself dumbstruck until the bodies of dancing teens push together, leaving him alone with Jade again.

As Ryder peers into her eyes, for a second it almost looks as though they're about to kiss, then the thumping beat of the music begins driving faster, starting to sound almost like the quickening of a heartbeat...Ryder's heartbeat. The sounds around him intensify. His fingers clench back, veins at the surface of his hands as he presses against the fabric of Jade's shirt. His upper lip pulls up momentarily to reveal a sharpened incisor. Lights glaring in his eyes, Ryder takes a hard swallow as his breathing tightens, sweat beading his temples. He loses the beat of the music, stepping back and pulling away.

"Sorry, I have to go...go to the bathroom." Ryder excused himself.

She asks, "Are you okay?" But he hurries past her and into the hallway. Teeth clenched, a sudden wave of pain slams him against the wall, tremors shuddering through his body. Waiting in a line for the bathroom, Harley notices him against the wall, his arms wrapped around his stomach.

"Ryder? Are you alright?" But he doesn't answer, pushing through the crowd, trying to find an exit out of the house, but one door leads to two teens making out on a bed, another to a smoke filled room crowded with stoners. He can't seem to find a way out. Gasps sounding more like animalistic growls, he crashes through the kitchen, shoving past people to the open door and out to the backyard.

Harley notices Robbie near the fire-pit outside. "Hey, I just saw Ryder leave. I think he had too much to drink." She said.

"What? What do you mean?" Robbie asked, alarmed. But before she can answer a panicked party-goer charges in from the back door.

"Cops are here!" Suddenly, everyone is moving, darting for an escape.

_**[Ryder's Room]**_

Ryder stumbles into his room, slamming the door shut, but even as he's turning the lock, another wave of pain wracks his body. He falls back, hitting his dresser and catching his reflection in the mirror above where two glowing eyes stare back at him. Crouched on the floor, breathing hard with sweat streaming down his forehead, Ryder squeezes his eyes shut trying to push back the animal inside when someone pounds on the door.

"Go away!" Ryder shouts.

"Ryder, it's me!" Robbie calls out. Hearing the panic in his friend's voice, he pulls himself up. He unlocks the door, but only allows it to open an inch. "Let me in Ryder, I can help."

"No!" Eyes still burning yellow, he stays hidden behind the door. "Listen, you have to find Jade and take her home..."

"She's fine." Robbie interrupts him. "I saw her get a ride. She's totally fine."

"Robbie, I think I know who it is."

"Just let me in and we can talk."

"It's Derek. Derek Hale's the werewolf. He's the one who bit me. He's the one who killed the girl in the woods!" Ryder exclaimed.

Ryder listens but there's nothing but shocked silence from the other side of the door until Robbie breaks it, "Ryder, Derek's the one who drove Jade from the party."

Bedroom window thrown open, Ryder launches himself from the second story fifteen feet up. When his feet hit the pavement, his crouched figure slowly draws up to reveal he's no longer struggling against the transformation. _He's given into it_.

He takes off for the woods, searching for Jade. He gets to Los Angeles preserve and jumps onto Derek's car. He lies flat, looking in the car window. Neither she nor Derek are in sight. He jumps off and goes further into the woods.

_**[Robbie]**_

Robbie pulls into the West's driveway and quickly gets out. He rushes to the door and rings the doorbell. "Come on, come on." He repeats until the door opens. Mrs. West stands at the door and Robbie starts to mumble. "Hi, Mrs. West, you have no idea who I am. I'm a friend of your daughter's. Uh, look, this is gonna sound crazy, um...really crazy actually. You know what? Crazy doesn't..." Robbie mumbles on and on. Mrs. West keeps looking at him like he was strange. She looks up at the stairs and calls for Jade.

"Jade! It's for you."

Jade comes out of her room and to the start of the stairs to see Robbie at the doorway. "Robbie." She says, slamming her hand softly against the rail.

_**[Forest]**_

Ryder is running past trees in werewolf form, jumping hills and running on all fours. He looks around, but nothing or nobody is in sight until he sees a jacket hanging on a tree branch. It was Jade's Jacket. "Where is she?" Ryder asks and suddenly hears Derek's voice.

"She's safe, from you." Derek suddenly grabs him and they both grunt. They roll down the hills, wrestling each other. Derek slams Ryder against the tree and growled.

"What did you do with her?" Ryder asked, concerned if Jade were safe or hurt, or still alive or dead.

"Shush, quiet." Derek says, hearing a twig snap. "It's too late; they're alright here. Run." Derek runs away, leaving Ryder behind. He starts running, but an arrow comes flying in his direction. Ducking, the arrow is in the tree, on fire. He suddenly screams when he is shot in the arm with an arrow attached to the tree. Three men come out of the shadows, one with a crossbow.

They look at one, and the middle one orders, "Take him." Ryder comes out of the shadows aiming for the hunters. Out of nowhere, he slams the two hunters against the trees, knocking them out cold. The last hunter standing looks back, holding out a gun. Derek rushes to Ryder and breaks him free from the tree as the hunter looks away. The two run away in to the forest.

Stopping, Ryder leans on a tree and asks, "Who were they?"

"Those were hunters; the kind that have been hunting us for centuries."

"Us...?" Ryder raises his voice. "You mean you! You did this to me!"

"Is it really so bad, Ryder? That you can see better, hear more clearly, move faster than any human could ever hope? You've been given something that people could kill for. The bite is a gift."

"I don't want it." Ryder declares.

"You will. And you're gonna need me if you want to learn how to control it. So you and me, Ryder, we're brothers now." He walks way, leaving Ryder alone.

_**[Road]**_

Ryder is walking on the outline of the woods and stops when Robbie pulls up beside him. He gets in and Robbie hands him a clean shirt. "Do you know what actually worries me the most?" Ryder asks, breaking the silence.

"If you say Jade, I'm gonna punch you in the head." Robbie said.

"She probably hates me now."

"Ugh." Robbie sighed. "I doubt that, but you might want to come up with a pretty amazing apology. Or, you know, you could just tell her the truth and reveal in the awesomeness of the fact that you're a freaking werewolf." Robbie receives one of his glares. "Okay, it's a bad idea."

After a few seconds, Robbie pats him on the shoulder, "Hey, we'll get through this. Come on. If I have to, I'll chain you up myself on full moon nights. I had a boa once. I could do it."

Ryder scoffed and Robbie looked at him with a half-smile.

_**[Hollywood Arts]**_

School was over for the day and Ryder was sitting outside with his lacrosse stick, wearing his gear when Jade passes him. He gets up to follow her. Noticing him, she asks, "So what happened? You left me stranded at the party."

"Yeah, I know, I know. I'm really sorry. I am." Ryder apologized, keeping up with her. "But you're gonna have to trust me that I had a really good reason."

"Did you get sick?" She asked stopping and turning to face him.

"I definitely had an attack of something."

"Am I gonna get an explanation?"

"Can you just find it in your heart to trust me on this?" He asked.

She asks, "Am I gonna regret this?"

"You probably will." He responds. She laughs. "So, is that a yes on a second chance?"

"Definitely yes..." Jade responded. A car horn goes off and Jade looks to see it's her dad. "That's my dad, better go." She walked off. He watched her leave. He starts to walk away, but does a double take; her father was the werewolf hunter who shot him.


	5. Second Chance at First Line

Chapter 5 - Second Chance at First Line

Ryder walked to his locker in the boys locker room, thinking. He leans against it with his back when Robbie walks past him, catching a glance at him. It's clear Ryder is still shocked about Jade's dad being a werewolf hunter. Robbie looks back, leaning against the edge of the last locker.

"Did you apologize to Jade?" Robbie asked, showing concern for Ryder's love life."

"Yeah..."

"Is she giving you a second chance or...?"

"Yeah..."

"Yeah, so everything's good!" Robbie exclaimed. He starts to walk off, but he comes back after hearing a faint 'no' from Ryder. Robbie's comforting smile turns into a slight frown. "No?"

"Remember the hunters?" Ryder asked. "Her dad is one of them."

"Her dad...?"

"...shot me with..." Ryder speaks slowly.

"Jade's father...?"

"...with a crossbow."

"Jade's father..."

"Yes, her father!" Ryder yelled. He starts to have bad scenarios. Robbie runs over and slaps him.

"No, Ryder. Snap back! You okay? Hey, alright. He didn't recognize you, right?" Robbie asked.

"No. No, I don't think so."

Robbie asks, "Does she know about him?"

"I don't know. W-what if she does? This is gonna kill me man!" A whistle blows and Robbie looks in that direction.

"Okay, just focus on lacrosse. Okay, here, Ryder. Take this and focus on lacrosse from now, okay?" Robbie hands him the lacrosse stick. "That's all you gotta do. Here. We. Go." Robbie hits him repeatedly on the arm before leaving to go get himself ready.

**[****Lacrosse Practice****]**

"Let's go! One-on-one from up top! Andre, take a long stick today." The coach shouts. "Atta boy...!" Andre nods and grabs a long stick after putting the short stick down. Coach blows his whistle as Andre faces another player.

Andre knocks him down, stopping him from the ball into the net. "That's how you do it, Jack! That's how you do it! Greenberg, take a lap! Let's go. Faster, Greenberg, let's go."

When he got to Ryder, he starts talking to him. "Daniels, what are they waiting for? Let's go."

Ryder snaps out of his thoughts and realizes he was next. He starts running across the field, but Andre pushes him down. The coach comes over, laughing.

"Hey, Daniels...! You sure you still want to be first line, Daniels? My grandmother can move faster than that and she's dead. Do you think you can move faster than the lifeless corpse of my dead grandmother?"

"Yes, Coach." Ryder whispers, pulse rising under the mask.

"I can't hear you."

"Yes, Coach." Ryder raises his voice a little louder.

"Then do it again." Standing up, he runs to the line and faces Andre once again. He starts running to the goal just as Andre gets right in front of him. As Ryder gets faster, Andre blocks him. Ryder pushes Andre down and he plummets on the ground, grasping his shoulder. The team runs to Andre to make sure he's okay. They don't pay attention Ryder, whose crouching down on his knees a few feet away. Robbie runs over to Ryder.

"Ryder, Ryder, are you okay?" He asks.

"I can't control it, Robbie. It's happening." Ryder admitted, struggling to keep the wolf inside him in.

"What, here, now? Come on." Robbie rushed Ryder off the field and led to the locker room, unaware of Derek there, standing by the bleachers.

Robbie finally gets Ryder into the locker room in time when he starts to transform. "Get away from me!" Ryder suddenly shouts, causing Robbie to stagger away quickly.

Being chased around the room, Robbie tries to escape. He bumps into the fire extinguisher and quickly grabs it before spraying it in his face. He hides around the corner until he hears a faint "Robbie" from Ryder.

"What happened?" Ryder asked as Robbie came back into the room.

"You tried to kill me." He puts the fire extinguisher up and sits down next to Ryder. "Like I told you before, it's the anger. It's your pulse rising. It's a trigger."

"But it's lacrosse; it's a pretty violent game if you haven't noticed." Ryder points out.

"Well, it is gonna be a lot more violent if you end up killing someone on the field. You can't play Saturday; you're gonna have to get out of the game."

"But, I'm first line."

"Not anymore."

**[****Ryder's Room****]**

After lacrosse practice, Ryder goes home and walks up to his room. He plops down on the bed all tired out. His mom comes into the room. "Hey." She says, getting his attention. "Late shift again for me, but I'm taking Saturday off to see your first game."

"No, mom you can't." He responds as she walks to his bed.

"Oh, I can and I will. Come on, one shift isn't gonna break us completely." Melissa then notices the dark circles under Ryder's eyes. "What's wrong with your eyes?" Ryder quickly sits up, panicked that his eyes were yellow. "It seems like you haven't been sleeping for days."

"Oh, uh it's nothing." Ryder responds. "I'm just stressed.

"Just stress, nothing else?" Melissa asked.

"Homework..."

"I mean, it's not like you're taking drugs or anything, right?"

"Right now...?" Ryder raises his eyebrows.

"Right now...? I'm sorry, what do you mean 'right now'? Have you ever taken drugs?"

He asks, "Have you?" She just turns around then walks out after saying 'get some sleep'. He just sighs and lays his head down. His laptop starts to beep. It's Robbie requesting video chat. He walks to his computer and answers it. Robbie appears, pointing a nerf gun at Ryder's screen.

"What did you find out?" Ryder asks, sitting down at the desk.

"Well, it's bad." Robbie answered. "Andre's got a separated shoulder."

"Because of me...?"

"No, because he's a tool..."

"Well, is he gonna play?"

Robbie answers, "Well, they don't know yet. Now, they're just counting on you for Saturday."

Ryder just closes his eyes and sighs as someone appears behind him. Robbie sees this and types something. It looks like...it takes a while for the rest to come up. Someone's behind you. Ryder turns around before being smashed against the wall by Derek.

Derek starts, "I saw you on the field."

"What are you talking about?" Ryder asked.

"You shifted in front of them. If they find out what you are, they find out about me, about all of us. And if it's not just the hunters, it's everyone."

It gets harder for Ryder to speak considering his face is smashed against the wall, "They didn't see anything, I swear!"

"And they won't! Because if you even try to play in that game on Saturday, I'm gonna kill you myself." Derek threatens just before disappearing through the window.

**[****Coach's Office****]**

The next day at school, Ryder is talking to Coach Finstock about tomorrow night's game. "What do you mean; you can't play the game tomorrow night?" Finstock asked.

"I mean I can't play the game tomorrow night."

"You can't wait to play the game tomorrow night." Coach adds unsaid words to it.

"No, Coach, I can't play the game tomorrow night."

"I'm not following."

"I'm having personal issues."

Finstock asks, "Is it a girl?"

"No."

"Is it a guy? You know, our goalie Danny is gay."

"Yeah, I know, Coach, but that's not it."

Finstock asks, "You don't think Danny's a good looking guy?"

"I think he's good looking, but I like girls." Ryder gets frustrated. "And that's not it, anyway!"

"What, is it drugs? Are you doing meth? I had a brother that was addicted to meth. You should've seen what it did to his teeth. They were all cracked and rotten. It was disgusting."

"My god, what happened to him?" Ryder asked, showing concern.

"He got veneers. Is that what this is about?" Finstock asked. "Are you afraid of getting hurt, Daniels?"

"No, I'm having some issues dealing with aggression."

"Well, here's the good news. That's why you play lacrosse; problem solved."

"Coach, I can't play the game tomorrow night." Ryder pointed out.

"Listen, Daniels, part of playing first line is taking on responsibility of being first line. Now, if you can't shoulder that responsibility, then you're back on the bench until you're ready."

Ryder asks, "If I don't play the game, you're taking me off first line?"

"Daniels, play the game."

**[****School Hallway****]**

Ryder walks through the halls when his phone rings. He takes it out and sees a text from his mom.

Mom (Work)

Got the night off! Coming to see you play! So excited!

Ryder looks up to see Jade coming down the stairs. "Hey." She greeted him as she walked over. "Busy?" She asked, glancing at his phone.

"No. No, it's just, uh...my mom. She's nothing." Jade's eyes widen until Ryder catches himself. "I mean, it's nothing. Uh, I'm never busy for you."

"I like the sound of that." She smiles and they laugh. "Well, I have to run to French class, but I wanted you to know that I'm coming to see you play tomorrow?"

"You are?"

"Yeah, and we're all going out afterwards. It's going to be you, me, Cat and Andre. It's gonna be great. Tell Robbie to come too." Jade starts to walk away and shouts over her shoulder, "Save me a seat at lunch. I gotta go."

"Oh, god..." He mutters, walking away.

**[****Jade's Locker****]**

Jade quickly heads to her locker and starts putting in her locker combination as the halls clear. She gets suspicious when she sees her jacket from the other night at the party, the one she never went back and got.

There's an eerie squeaking noise as she grabs it. Someone was watching her. She looks both sides of her to see nothing. Starling her, the bell suddenly rings. She chuckles just before grabbing her French book.

**[****Math Class****]**

Cat and Ryder stand at the chalk board, facing it with chalks in hand, solving a math equation. Cat asks, whispering, "Why is there a rumor going around that you're not playing tomorrow?"

"It's because I'm sort of not."

"I think you sort of are, especially when you brutally injure my boyfriend while ramming into him." Cat shot back.

"He brutally injured himself by ramming into me."

Cat just smirked then looked at him with a glare. "Andre's gonna play tomorrow, but he's not gonna be at his peak, and I prefer my boyfriend at crowning performance."

"Okay." Ryder said, slightly annoyed.

"I date the captain of the winning lacrosse team, and if they start off the season losing, I date the captain of the losing lacrosse team." Cat pointed out. "I don't date losers."

"Losing one game isn't gonna kill anyone." Ryder points out before quietly muttering, "In fact, it might even save someone."

"Fine, don't play. We'll probably win anyway. Then we'll go out after, like we were planning, and I'll introduce Jade to all the hot players on the team and Ryder Daniels can stay home, surfing the net for porn." Cat puts her chalk down, finished with the problem, and walks back to her desk while clapping the chalk of her hands.

The teacher speaks, "Mr. Daniels, you're not even close to solving your problem."

"Tell me about it."

**[****Ryder's Locker****]**

Ryder is at his locker, locking it, when Robbie runs over. "Hey, come here."

"What?" HE asks while Robbie drags him over to the end of the hallway where the principal's office is. Standing out of the office, the principal, Deputy Shapiro, and another cop are having a conversation.

Robbie points to them, "Tell me what they're saying."

"Can you hear them?" Robbie asks.

"Shush."

_Deputy Shapiro: I want everyone under the age of 18 to be in their home by 9:30p.m. We'd like to institute the curfew, effective immediately._

Ryder turned to Robbie. "Everyone under the age of 18 has curfew because of the body."

"Unbelievable. My dad's out looking for a rabid animal, while the jerk-off who actually killed the girl is just hanging out, doing whatever he wants."

"Well, you can't exactly tell your dad the truth about Derek."

"I can do something." Robbie tells him as Ryder leans against the wall.

"Like what?"

"Find the other half of the body." Robbie says then walks away.

"Are you kidding?"

When Ryder turns, he sees Jade, Cat, and some guys on the lacrosse team.

"This is Jade." Cat introduces Jade to one of the guys.

"Hi." Jade greets them. "It's nice to meet you." She continues as she shakes hands with him.

"She's the new girl. She just moved here." Ryder walks towards them, listening in on the conversation. He walks with a glare directed toward the guy and Cat.

"Do you like it?"

"I like it."

Cat glares back at him and walks away, tagging the guy along.

She turns to face Ryder with a smile. "So, Cat's introducing you to everyone?"

"She's being so unbelievably nice to me." Jade points out.

"I wonder why." But Ryder knows the reason why.

"Maybe she gets how much being the new girl can suck." Ryder notices her jacket. He gets a flashback of seeing it hung by a tree branch.

"Where did you get that?"

"My jacket...? It was in my locker. I think Cat brought it back from the party. She has my combination..."

"Did she say she brought it back, or did somebody give her the jacket?" Ryder cut her off.

"Like who?"

"Like Ryder."

"Derek, you friend...?"

"He's not my friend. How much did you talk to him when he drove you home?"

"Mmm, not much at all..."

"What did you say?"

"I gotta get to class." Jade says.

"Jade..." Ryder called out.

"No, I really have to go."

**[****Derek's House****]**

Ryder quickly rides his bike to Derek's house. When he reaches it, he gets off and starts yelling. "Derek! Derek!" He shouts as he takes his backpack off aggressively. Ryder smells something and looked at the back of the house to see fresh dirt. He looked back at the front of the house to already see Ryder standing there.

"Stay away from her!" He shouted. He couldn't deal with losing her. "She doesn't know anything!"

"Yeah...? What if she does? You think your little buddy Robbie can just Google werewolves, and now you got all the answers, is that it? You don't get it yet, Ryder, but I'm looking out for you. Think about what could happen. You're out on the field, the aggression takes over, and you shift in front of everyone." Derek grabs Ryder's lacrosse stick. "You're mom, all your friends. And when they see you," He pokes the top of the lacrosse stick on Ryder's chest and he slaps it away. "Everything falls apart." Derek rips the net with his claws.

He suddenly disappears when he throws the lacrosse stick in mid-air and Ryder catches it.

**[****Ryder's House****]**

Robbie rushes through the Daniels' house and up to Ryder's room. Opening the door, he starts to ask a bunch of questions, "What did you find? How did you find it? Where did you find it?" Robbie adds, "And, yes, I've had a lot of Adderall."

"I found something of Derek Hale's." Ryder informs.

"Are you kidding, what?"

"There's something buried there." He replies. "I could smell blood."

"That's awesome! I mean, that's terrible. Who's blood?"

Ryder gets up. "I don't know. But when we do, your dad nails Derek for the murder, and then you help me figure out how to play lacrosse without changing, because there's no way I'm not playing that game." He tosses the fixed stick to the bed and they walk out.

**[****Mission Creek Hospital****]**

Robbie and Ryder walk into the hospital. Robbie suddenly nudges him, pointing to the door that reads "Morgue". "Okay." Ryder says, heading over.

"Good luck, I guess, yeah." Robbie says, walking away as Ryder sneaks into the room beside them. Robbie goes into the waiting room to see Cat sitting on a chair. Robbie gets nervous and leans onto the check-in-desk. He walks to Cat with a cheerful attitude.

"Hey, Cat. You probably don't remember me. Um...I sit behind you in biology." He waves at her and she looks at the ceiling. "Uh, anyway, I always thought that we just had this kind of connection. It was unspoken, of course. Maybe it'd be kind of cool to get to know each other a little better." Robbie realizes Cat has been on the phone the whole time when she takes off her Bluetooth phone.

"Hold on, give me a second." She orders and takes the Bluetooth off before turning to Robbie. "Yeah, I didn't get any of what you just said. Is it worth repeating?"

Robbie chuckles nervously. "No. Sorry. I'm gonna sit. You don't care." He sits in a chair around the corner and grabs a comic book.

**[****Morgue****]**

Ryder walks down the hall, looking at the label on each door. He gets to the Morgue and quietly goes in. He walks past a table then goes to a shelf where they have body sized containers to put the deceased in. He opens a door that was near and pulls the body out.

He lifts up the sheet where the feet are shown and there's a tag on the big toe. He glances at the tag and reads the information on there. He puts the body back in and shuts the cabinet.

**[****Hospital - Hallway****]**

Andre walks down the hall and Cat immediately gets up to walk to him. "Did he do it?" Cat asks, concerned for her boyfriend's injury.

Andre informs, "He said not to make a habit of it, but one cortisone shot won't kill me."

"You should get one right before game, too. The pros do it all the time. Do you want to be a little high school amateur?" She crosses her arms over her chest before grabbing Andre and pulling him toward her. "Or do you want to go pro?" She gives him a soft kiss.

They walk away and Robbie, who was watching them, made a face. Ryder comes up and snatches the book away from Robbie, startling him. "Oh my god...!"

"The scent was the same."

"Are you sure?" Robbie asks, getting up.

"Yeah..."

Robbie sighs, "So, he did bury the other half of the body on his property."

"Which means; we have proof he killed the girl and then buried half of her body." Ryder responds.

"I say use it."

"How...?"

"Tell me something first." Robbie said. "Are you doing this because you want to stop Derek or because you want to play in the game and he said you couldn't."

"There are bite marks on the legs, Robbie; bite marks."

"Okay, then we're gonna need a shovel." Robbie said, patting Ryder on the back as they walk out.

**[****Derek's House - Night****]**

Derek walks outside and heads to his car. Right when he drives away, Robbie and Ryder drive up. They hop out of the car and walk to the spot where the body was buried. As he watches Robbie shine the flashlight, Ryder states, "Wait. Something's different."

"Different how...?"

"I don't know. Let's just get this over with." They reach the spot and start digging. It takes almost an hour for them to dig six feet under. Wiping sweat and dirt off of his nose, Ryder says, "This is taking way too long."

"Just keep going."

Ryder asks, "What if he comes back?"

"Then we get the hell out of here."

"What if he catches us?"

"I have a plan for that."

"Which is...?"

"You run one way, I run the other and whoever he catches first, rest in peace."

Ryder scoffs. "I hate that plan."

When Robbie puts his shovel back in the ground, he hits something. "Oh, stop, stop." They bend down and start wiping the dirt away. Robbie starts to untie something.

"Hurry up."

"I'm trying." Robbie says. "Did he have to tie the thing in 900 knots?"

"I'll do it." When they're done, they uncover everything and jump back with a scream when they see a black wolf with its tongue sticking out.

"What the hell is that?" Robbie asks in disgust.

"It's a wolf." Ryder points out.

"Yeah, I can see that. I thought you said you smelled blood, as in human blood."

"I told you something was different.

"This doesn't make since."

"We gotta get out of here."

"Yeah, okay, help me cover this up."

Robbie looks up for a second and spots a purple flower poking out of the ground. "What's wrong?" Ryder asked, following Robbie's eyes to see what he's looking at.

"You see that flower?" Robbie asks.

"What about it?"

"I think it is wolfsbane."

"What's that?" Ryder asks, confused.

"Haven't you ever seen The Wolf Man?"

"No."

"Lon Chaney Jr.? Claude rains the original classic werewolf movie?"

"No!" Ryder shouts. "What?"

"You are so unprepared for this." Robbie sighs and gets up, walking to the plant. He starts pulling it out of the ground. It's attached to a rope and he walks in a circle to get it out. The area starts to glow red. Ryder looks back at the werewolf and jumps up. "Robbie." He calls.

Robbie stops what he was doing and goes to Ryder. He looks down and sees that the wolf was now human. "Holy!" He exclaims, falling down a little.

**[****Derek's House - Afternoon****]**

Ryder and Robbie are at Derek's house, a cop car in front of them. A cop comes out with Derek, handcuffs latched onto his hands behind him. Ryder watches as he leans against Robbie's jeep. He looks in the distance to see Robbie walking over. Robbie didn't see Ryder shaking his head 'no', trying to stop him.

As Robbie gets in the car and starts talking to Derek, all Derek does is glare at him. "Okay, just so you know, I'm not afraid of you." Derek growls, making Robbie sink down a little. "Okay, maybe I am, but it doesn't matter. I just want to know something. The girl you killed, she was a werewolf. She was a different kind was she? I mean, she could turn herself into an actual wolf. I know Ryder can't do that? Is that why you killed her?"

"Why are you so worried about me when it's your friend who's the problem?" Derek asks. "When he shifts on the field, what do you think they're gonna do, huh, just keep cheering him on? I can't stop him from playing, but you can." Derek leans forward. "And trust me, you want to." The door opens and Sheriff Shapiro suddenly pulls Robbie out.

"Hey, OW!" Robbie exclaims.

"There, stand." Sheriff orders. "What the hell do you think you're doing?"

"I'm just trying to help."

"Uh-uh. Okay, well, how about you help me understand exactly how you came across this.

Robbie sighs. "We were looking for Ryder's inhaler."

"When did he drop his inhaler?" Sheriff questioned.

"He dropped it the other night." Robbie confessed then groaned, realizing what he just did.

"The other night when you were out here looking for the first half of the body?"

"Yes."

"The night you told me you were alone and Ryder was at home.

"Yes. No. Oh, crap."

"So, you lied to me."

"That depends on how you define lying." Robbie responded.

"Well, I define it as not telling the truth. How do you define it?"

"Well, I define it as reclining your body in a horizontal position." Robbie demonstrates with his arm.

Sheriff responds, "Get the hell out of here."

"Absolutely..." Robbie walks to his jeep.

**[****Chase's Car****]**

"I can't find anything about wolfsbane being used for burial." Ryder informs Robbie as he drives down the road.

"Just keep looking." Robbie orders as he sighs. "Maybe it's like a ritual or something, like maybe they bury you as a wolf or maybe it's like a special skill, you know? Like something you have to learn."

"I'll put it on my to-do list, right underneath figuring out how the hell I'm playing this game tonight."

"Maybe it's different for she-wolves."

"Okay!" Ryder shouted. "Stop it!"

"Stop what?"

"Stop saying werewolves! Stop enjoying this so much."

Robbie asks, "Are you okay?"

"No! No, I'm not. I'm so far from being okay."

"You know, you're gonna have to accept this, Ryder; sooner or later." Robbie states.

"I can't..."

"Well, you're gonna have to."

"No, I can't breathe!" A starts grunting and hits the roof with his hand. Robbie soon realizes what's happening.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa..."

"Pull over." Ryder orders.

"Why, what's happening?" Robbie asked.

Ryder opens up Robbie's backpack and sees the rope of wolfsbane. "You kept it?"

"What was I supposed to do with it?" Robbie asked.

"Stop the car." Ryder's eyes then turned yellow and his canines grew.

Robbie suddenly pulls over and stops the car. He grabs his backpack and jumps out. Throwing it back into the woods, he turns to the car to see Ryder's car door swinging open, but no Ryder. "Ryder?" He wonders nervously.

Soon, he's driving down the road again, calling dispatch. The line picks up and a woman starts to speak, "Robbie, you know you can't call the dispatch when I'm on duty."

"I just need to know if you've gotten any odd calls."

"_Odd how...?"_

"Uh, like an odd person or a dog-like individual roaming the streets."

"_I'm hanging up on you now."_

"No, wait, wait!"

"_Goodbye."_ The line drops and Robbie slams his phone on the seat.

**[****Jade's House - Night****]**

Ryder is on the roof, in werewolf form. She gets up and walks to the windows, not noticing him. She shuts her curtains and Ryder suddenly sees his reflection. Startled, he tries to get off, falling of the roof and colliding on the hood of Mr. West's car. Before Mr. West can even see his werewolf form, he shifts back.

"Dad...?" Jade's voice could be heard from the doorway. Mr. West is kneeling beside Ryder, making sure, he's okay. "Dad, what the hell are you doing?" Jade shouts as she runs to the two.

"He came out of nowhere, Jade." Mr. West says.

Jade asks, "Are you trying to kill him?"

"No, of course not, he just ran out of the driveway."

"I'm sorry." Ryder apologizes, grunting in pain. "It's my fault. I'm sorry."

"Are you okay?" Jade asked.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. I swear." Jade starts to stroke his hair. "Sorry I hit your car. I was just coming to say hi." Ryder says. Jade chuckles.

"You sure you're okay?" Mr. West asks as he and Jade help Ryder up.

He grunts, "Yeah, yeah, completely. I should go. I've got a lacrosse game to get to." He turns to Jade. "You're still coming, right?"

"Of course I'm coming." Jade smiles at him.

"We both are." Mr. West adds.

**[****Locker Room****]**

Ryder has finished getting ready and puts his clothes in a bag. A male voice that can only be heard by him says his last name, "Daniels." Everyone's slamming lockers which make it difficult for Ryder to hear just one thing. "Daniels." The voice says again. He closes his eyes tight then opens them. He sits back down and starts putting his knee pads on.

Robbie comes by and looks at him. He starts making his way towards Ryder. "Are you gonna try to convince me not to play?" Ryder asks.

"I just hope you know what you're doing."

"If I don't play, I lose first time and Jade."

"Jade's not going anywhere." Robbie shouts, getting annoyed. "And it's one game that you really don't need to play."

"I wanna play!" Ryder yells and looks at him. "I want to be on the team and I want to go out with Jade. I want a semi-freaking normal life. Do you get that?" He asks.

"I get it." Robbie sits down and sighs. "Just try not to worry too much while you're out there, okay? Or get too angry."

"I got it."

"Or stressed..."

"I got it."

"Don't think about Jade or being in the stands, or that her father's trying to kill you, or that Derek's trying to kill you, or the girl he killed. Or that you might kill if a hunter doesn't kill you first." Ryder was getting annoyed and turned around with a glare, warning him to stop. "I'm sorry. I'll stop. Good luck."

**[****The Game****]**

The crowd cheers and the game is about to start. Everyone takes their seats and the players get prepared to win. Ryder and Robbie walk to the bleachers with the items for the game. Ryder sees Jade, Mr. West, and his mom. "Ryder!" Cat yells, walking up to him and grabbing his shirt. Robbie gasps and walks away. "I just want you to remember one thing for tonight."

"Uh, winning isn't everything?"

Cat chuckles, wiping invisible dust off his shoulder. "Nobody likes a loser." She says and walks away.

Coach sits next to Andre and asks, "How's your shoulder?"

"It's fine." Andre responds.

"Do you feel any pain?"

"No."

"What if I gave it a big old punch?" Coach rises up his fist. "Would you feel any pain then?"

Andre knits his eyebrows, "Maybe."

"Listen, just go out there. Just give it your best. If you feel any pain, just..."

"Just keep playing...?"

"That's my boy."

The whistle blows and the players run to the field. Ryder runs to the goal; Robbie is nervously biting his nails. Ryder prayers silently, "Please let this be okay. Please."

**[****Bench****]**

Mr. Shapiro comes up to Robbie and pats his back. "Hey kid."

"Hey." He greets him back.

"So, you think you'll see any action tonight?"

"Oh, there might be action all right."

**[****Field****]**

The coach puts the ball between two players and the whistle blows, they fight for it. When a player on Ryder's team gets it, they start running for the goal. Minutes later, Ryder sees the ball on the ground. He runs over and Andre sees this. Andre runs after him and pushes Ryder to the ground, grabbing the ball with the net.

Andre scores, "That's it, Andre! Get fired up, fired up!"

Ryder looks back at the bleachers where Jade and Cat are cheering. Jade and Cat are holding up a sign that says, "We Love You Andre!" Ryder is heartbroken by this.

"Brutal." Robbie mutters, noticing the sign. "Oh, this is not gonna be good." He mumbles, seeing Ryder running after Andre.

"Don't pass to Daniels," was the last thing Ryder heard between Danny and Andre. Ryder's eyes turn yellow. Ryder grows softly and the coach starts to wonder something.

**[****Bleachers****]**

Jade and Cat are suspicious and worried. Mr. West leans over, asking, "Which one is Ryder again?"

"He's number 11." Cat says. She adds, "He's also known as the only one who hasn't caught a single ball the entire game."

"I hope he's okay."

"I hope we're okay." Cat says. "We need to win this." Cat stands up, picking up the sign and nudges Jade to help her. "Jade, a little help here...?"

**[****Field****]**

Ryder grows even more jealous at the other sign. The ball is thrown in mid-air and Ryder jumps up, catching it before starting to run. He dodges the players of the other team and runs to the goal. He shoots, he scores! Ryder has won the round and everyone but Cat and Andre cheer. Coach Finstock yells, "Daniels! Pass to Daniels!"

Ryder has shifted, now growling. His eyes are glowing yellow, canines out. Luckily, his helmet is on. He growls at a player on the opposing team and the player backs away in fear, passing it to Ryder.

Coach walks over to Robbie, who is biting his glove in fear and anticipation. "Did the opposing team just deliberately pass us the ball?"

"Yes, I believe so, Coach." Robbie answers.

Ryder dodges another player, then another player, until he reaches the goal. The goalie catches the ball, but it goes through the net and into the goal. Ryder looks at everyone else and realizes that he's shifting.

Cheers to him roar through the field. The whistle blows again and they get ready for the final round. "What the hell's up with your teammate?" A player on the opposing team asked as they got ready to start again.

"I don't know...yet." Andre responds. The coach blows the whistle and one of the opposing team players pass the ball to Ryder. Ryder once again does the same routine again, vision now red.

Robbie stands up slowly, knowing that Ryder is shifting. He mutters, "No, Ryder, no."

"You can do it, Ryder." Ryder hears Jade mutter and her voice makes him calm down a bit. In the last 5 seconds of the game, Ryder throws the ball into the net. They have won. Ryder takes off his glove and sees his claws. He dashes for the locker room, Jade following.

**[****Locker Room****]**

Ryder pants as he walks to the sinks. Taking off his helmet, he throws it across the floor. Jade comes in and sees his helmet. She starts to worry and become suspicious. Taking off her beanie, she starts calling out for Ryder.

"Ryder?" There's no answer. She hears glass shatter when he punches the mirror. "Ryder? Ryder, are you here?"

Ryder watches Jade from above on the ceiling bar. She's suspiciously staring at the broken glass. Jade leans against the wall in fear and calls out for Ryder once again. She goes to the showers to see him. He is fine after making it through his transformation.

"Ryder, are you okay?" She walks up to him and touches his shoulder, making him suddenly turn around. "You scared me. Are you alright?"

"Yeah, sorry, I just got kind of lightheaded for a sec."

"Maybe it's the adrenaline." Jade suggested. "You were pretty amazing out there."

"I'm sorry for acting totally weird today."

"It's okay. I can handle weird."

"To be totally honest, you, uh, make me kind of nervous."

"I do?"

"Yeah, kind of like really nervous." He says, Jade laughs. "I just...I wanted to make sure I get my second chance."

"You already have it; I'm just waiting for you to take it." She starts to walk away, but turns back when Ryder starts to respond.

"Well, maybe I need to learn to take more chances."

"Maybe you do." Ryder leans in and their lips touch. They share a sweet, soft kiss. Robbie runs in and then takes some steps back to give them a little privacy. Peering in, he still watches.

Jade and Ryder pull away and she giggles, "I got to get back to my dad." She walks away and sees Robbie.

"Robbie." She says, walking out the door. He waves a little, barely lifting a hand. He walks away from his hiding place and towards Ryder, who has a goofy grin on his face.

"I kissed her." Ryder says.

"I saw."

"She kissed me."

"I saw that too. That's pretty good, huh?"

Ryder stammers, "I don't know how, but I controlled it. I pulled it back. Maybe I can do this. Maybe I can do this. Maybe it's not that bad."

"Yeah," Robbie chuckles. "We'll talk later then." Robbie is about to walk away, but Ryder stops him.

Ryder questions, "What?"

"The, uh, medical examiner looked at the other half of the body we found."

"And..."

"Well, I'll keep it simple; the medical examiner determines killer of girl to be animal, not human. Derek's human, not animal. Derek, not killer; he was let out of jail."

"Are you kidding?"

"No. And here's a bigger kick in the butt. My dad ID'd the dead girl, both halves. Her name was Laura Hale."

"Hale?"

"Derek's sister."

**[****Lacrosse Field****]**

Ryder's glove is still on the field. Andre sees it and goes to pick it up. The tips of it are torn and Andre feels someone's presence behind him. He looks to see a figure staring at him; Derek Hale.


	6. Pack Mentality (Corrected)

Chapter 6 - Pack Mentality

_Ryder and Jade come out of the school, holding hands and running to a bus. As he guides her, he says, "Come on." _

"_Where are you taking me?" Jade asks. _

"_I'm taking you somewhere where we can be alone." _

"_We are alone." She states. They stops and Ryder leans against the bus doors. _

"_Somewhere we can be more alone..." Ryder opens the door and they go in. Ryder sits in a seat and Jade stands over him. Jade sits across from him. Ryder grabs the ends of the top seat, standing up. He walks over to Jade and bends down. He leans in and kisses her with passion. This censors a trigger and his claws retract and scratch the seat. He pulls away and Jade knits her eyebrows._

"_What's wrong?" She asks. He starts growling and walks away to the other side of the bus. _

"_Get away." He warns her, but she doesn't move. _

"_Ryder?" She stands up and Ryder's eyes start glowing yellow, hair grows alongside of his jaws and his canines grow. "Ryder?" _

"_Get away from me!" He stops crouching and looks at her. She starts staggering away in fear. She turns around and starts running to the door. But Ryder, being faster than her, grabs her leg. She falls to the ground, hitting her face. He drags her across the floor and Jade keeps on turning and turning. She tries to grab the legs of the seats so Ryder wouldn't be able to drag her anymore. _

_Jade is able to kick Ryder in the chest and crawl back to the door. She falls and starts to lean on the door so someone could see her. But no one could see her. Ryder starts walking to Jade. When she is almost able to get the door open, Ryder covers her mouth and smashes her head against the window._

**[School - Morning]**

Ryder is telling Robbie what happened. As they walk down the hall, Robbie asks, "So you killed her?"

"I don't know. I just woke up, and I was sweating like crazy and I couldn't breathe. I've never had a dream where I woke up like that." He said.

"Really...?" Robbie asks. "I have. It usually ends a little a little differently.

"A) I meant that I've never had a dream that felt that real, and B) never give me that much detail about you in bed again." Ryder told him, knowing what he meant.

"Noted..." Robbie sighed. "Let me take a guess here."

"No, I know, you think it has something to do with me going out with Jade tomorrow. Like I'm gonna lose control and rip her throat out."

"No, of course not." Ryder is not sure that Robbie is telling the truth. "Yeah, that's totally it." Robbie admitted. "Hey, come on, it's gonna be fine, alright? Personally, I think you're handling this pretty freaking amazingly. You know, it's not like there's a Lycanthropy for beginner's class you can take."

"Yeah, not a class; but maybe a teacher..." Ryder says.

"Who?" Robbie asked. "Derek?" Robbie slaps Ryder on the back of his head. "Are you forgetting the part where we got him tossed in jail?"

"Yeah, I know, but chasing her and dragging her to the back of the bus, it felt so real."

"How real...?"

"It felt like it actually happened." As soon as they walk outside, their eyes drop. In front of them is a bus stained with blood and a door hanging out.

"I think it did." Robbie says, making Ryder even more worried.

They have gone inside away from the scene and Robbie tries to reassure Ryder that Jade is fine. "She's probably fine." He catches up to Ryder.

"She's not answering my texts, Robbie." Ryder says, looking around frantically.

"It could just be a coincidence, alright?"

"Yeah, a seriously amazing coincidence" Ryder turns to Robbie. "Just help me find her, okay?" Seconds later, Ryder asks, "Do you see her?"

"No." Ryder turns a corner and slams himself against a locker. Out of frustration, he punches the locker, breaking it and it swings open. He walks backwards to the corner and bumps into someone. He turns to see Jade suddenly drop her books. She laughs and looks at him.

"You scared the hell out of me." She said, being down to pick them up. Ryder is happy to see that she is alive and healthy.

"You're okay." He says.

"I will be once my heart starts beating again." Jade says as Ryder bends down to help her. She notices him staring at her.

"What?"

"I'm just happy to see you."

The principal comes on the intercom, _"Attention, students, this is your principal. I know you're all wondering about the incident that occurred last night to one of our buses. While the police work to determine what happened, classes will proceed as scheduled." _Everyone groans.

Jade puts her head on Ryder's and plays with his hair. "Save me a seat at lunch?" She asked, looking into his sea-blue eyes.

"Yeah..." He responds. She walks away and Ryder looks to see Andre dumbfounded about his locker.

"What are you looking at, asswipe?" Ryder just walks away, a laugh trying to escape.

_**[Chemistry Class]**_

Ryder is talking to Robbie, who is sitting right behind him. Ryder suggested, "Maybe it was my blood on the door."

"It could have been animal blood." Robbie responded quietly. "You know, maybe you caught a rabbit or something."

"And did what?"

"You ate it." Robbie said.

"Raw?"

Robbie answers sarcastically, "No, you stopped to bake it in a little werewolf oven; yes, raw. I don't know. You're the one who can't remember anything."

The teacher, Mr. Harris, stands at the board and starts to speak, "Mr. Shapiro, if that's your idea of a hushed whisper, you might want to pull the headphones out every once in a while. I think you and Mr. Daniels would benefit from a little distance, yes?"

Robbie scoffs, "No."

Mr. Harris points to a different seat and has them move further apart. "Let me know if the separation anxiety gets to be too much." Robbie scoffs and sits down while Ryder goes to the front.

"Hey, I think I found something." A girl shouted, pointing to the window. In interest, everyone ran to the window to see an old man being wheeled out of the bus by some doctors.

"That's not a rabbit." Ryder whispers to Robbie. Suddenly the man jumps up and starts screaming, making the class jump a little as doctors hold him down. Ryder starts to back away, Robbie following.

"Okay," He begins. "This is good, this is good. He got up; he's not dead. Dead guys can't do that." Robbie pointed out.

"Robbie," Ryder whispers. "I did that."

_**[Lunch]**_

Ryder and Robbie are still trying to wrap their heads around things. As they walk to the table, Robbie says, "But dreams aren't memories." He puts his tray down and sits down across from Ryder.

"Then it wasn't a dream." Ryder says. "Something happened last night and I can't remember what."

"What makes you so sure that Derek even has all the answers?" Robbie asked.

"Because during the full moon, he wasn't in werewolf form, he was in total control while I was running around in the middle of the night attacking some totally innocent guy."

"You don't know that." Robbie responded, grabbing his orange.

"I can't go out with Jade. I have to cancel."

"No, you're not cancelling, okay? You can't just cancel your entire life. We'll figure it out." Just as he finishes, Cat puts her tray down and sits next to Ryder once she pulls her chair out.

"Figure what out?" Cat asked.

"Uh...figure out tonight's homework." Robbie lied. He leans over to Ryder and whispers, "Why is she sitting with us?" Ryder shrugs.

Suddenly, they are suddenly joined by Jade, Danny, and a guy named Brian. Andre comes up with his tray and looks at Brian. He orders Brian, "Get up."

"Why don't you ask Danny to get up?" Brian asked.

"That's because I don't stare at his girlfriend's coin slot." Danny answered. Brian gets up and leaves as Andre sits down. The topic is soon on the incident and the man found.

"So, I hear they're saying it's some type of animal attack."

"It was probably a cougar."

"I heard mountain lion." Andre responds, sitting back and bringing his leg up.

Cat says, "A cougar is a mountain lion. Isn't it?"

"Who care?" Andre asked. "The guy's probably some homeless tweaker who's gonna die anyway."

"Actually, I just found out who it is." Robbie says, looking down at his phone. "Check it out." He puts his phone in the middle of the table so everyone could see the video.

"_The Sheriff's Department won't speculate on details of the incident, but confirmed the victim, Garrison Myers, did survive the attack. Meyers was taken to a local hospital where he remains in critical condition." _

"I know this guy." Ryder stammers, grabbing Robbie's phone.

"You do...?" Jade asked.

"Yeah, when I used to take the bus back when I lived with my dad, he was the driver."

"Can we talk about something slightly more fun, please?" Cat asked. "Like, oh, where are we going tomorrow night?"

Jade looked at her, knowing the question were directed toward her. "You said you and Ryder were hanging out tomorrow night, right?"

"Um, we were thinking of what we were gonna do." Jade responded, looking at Ryder.

"Well, I am not sitting home again watching Lacrosse videos, so if the four of us are hanging out, we are doing something fun."

"Hanging out, like the four of us?" Ryder looked at Jade. "Do you wanna hang out, like us and them?"

"Yeah, sure, sounds fun."

"You know what else sounds fun?" Andre asks, grabbing a fork. "Stabbing myself in the face with this fork..." Cat quickly grabs it and puts it in the middle of her and Ryder. Robbie rolled his eyes, taking a swig of his water bottle.

"How about bowling?" Cat asked, looking at Andre. "You love to bowl."

"Yeah, but with actual competition."

Jade looked at him with a laugh, "How do you know we're not actual competition?" Jade then looked at Ryder and asked him a question. "You can bowl, right?"

"Well, sort of." Robbie's eyes widen, knowing his friend was truly terrible at bowling.

"Is it sort of or yes?" Andre asked, leaning forward.

"Yes." Ryder responded. "In fact, I'm a great bowler."

_**[Hallway after School]**_

"You're a terrible bowler!" Robbie exclaims, walking down the hall with Ryder tagging along.

"I know! I'm such an idiot."

"God, it was like watching a car wreck. I mean, first it turned into the whole group date thing. Then out of nowhere comes that phrase."

"Hang out." Ryder repeats.

"You don't hang out with hot girls, okay? It's like death. Once it's hanging out, you might as well be her gay best friend. You and Danny can start hanging out."

"How is this happening?" Ryder asked. "I either killed a guy or I didn't."

"I don't think Danny likes me very much."

"I asked Jade on a date and now we're hanging out."

Robbie asked, "Am I not attractive to gay guys?"

"I make first line and the team captain wants to destroy me. Now..." Ryder glances at his watch. "Now, I'm gonna be late for work." He starts to walk away faster, leaving Robbie behind.

"Wait, Ryder, you didn't...Am I attractive to gay guy..." Robbie cuts himself, knowing Ryder wasn't gonna answer. "You didn't answer my question." Robbie then starts walking the other way.

_**[Animal Clinic]**_

Ryder rides his bike to the Animal Clinic and parks it besides the building. He runs in and apologizes to his boss, Dr. Deaton, "Sorry."

"You're all of two minutes late."

"I just don't want you to think I'm slacking."

"Ryder, I guarantee you; you're one of the least slacking kids in this town." Dr. Deaton says, picking up a box. Ryder looks at the door and sees the Sheriff standing outside, about to come in.

He believes that they have found some connection to him and the attack; however, he is just here to get the police dog's stitches removed. "Hey, I see somebody's ready to get their stitches out." Dr. Deaton bends down to pet the dog before picking up to put it on the operating table. Ryder sees an evidence envelope in Sheriff's hand.

"Hey, there, Ryder, are you staying out of trouble?" Sheriff Shapiro asks, taking off his sunglasses.

"Yeah," Ryder nods.

Sheriff starts to talk to Deaton, "Hey, listen, while I'm here, do you mind taking a look at those pictures I was telling you about?" Sheriff asks, handing him the evidence envelope. "Sacramento still can't determine an animal."

"I'm not exactly an expert." Deaton says as he takes out the pictures. "This is the guy who was attacked on the bus?"

"Yeah, and we found wolf hairs on Laura Hale's body."

"A wolf...?" Ryder asks, getting into the conversation. "I mean, I read somewhere that wolves haven't been in California for like 60 years."

"True enough, but wolves are highly migratory. They could've wandered in from another state driven by impulse or strong enough memory."

"Wolves have memories?" Ryder asks, walking to the table.

"Longer term memories, yes. If associated with a primal drive. See this one here?" Deaton holds up a picture and points to a mark. "Those are claw marks. A wolf would've gone for the throat or the spinal cord with its teeth."

"So, what do you think, it's a mountain lion?" Sheriff asks.

"I don't know. A wolf could chase down its prey, hobbling it by tearing at the ankles." Ryder suddenly gets a flashback of his "dream". "And then the throat."

_**[Later that Day - Hospital]**_

Ryder arrives at the hospital to deliver a package for his mom. His mom notices him and asks, "Is my beautiful talented, and wonderful son _actually _bring me dinner?"

"I thought you wouldn't mind skipping the cafeteria tonight." He says, leaning on the check-in desk.

"You are the most thoughtful, loving, most conniving little con artist ever." Ryder raised his eyebrow. "You are so not getting the car tonight."

"Mom...!" Ryder started.

"What? There's a curfew, so no car." Melissa looked up and smiled, grabbing the bag of food. "But I will take this." She starts to walk away, but turns back to him. "Love you."

Ryder then started walking to the door, but stopped. He turned around, looking at a door where he smelled a familiar scent. He walks over to it and opens the door. He quietly walks in and shuts it, walking to Mr. Meyers' bedside.

"Mr. Meyers." Ryder started and looked at him with a look of worry. Mr. Meyers' eyes open and he looks at him. "Are you okay?" But Mr. Meyers' doesn't answer, instead he freaks out. He starts groaning and screaming, grabbing Ryder's shirt.

Melissa's voice rings, "What the hell are you doing in here? Get out! Now, go!"

_**[Next Day - Derek's House]**_

The Sheriff's office had dispatched a car to check out Derek Hale's place, however using his werewolf abilities manages to scare off the deputy. As his car pulls away, Ryder appears behind it, looking up at the house.

"I know you can hear me." Ryder said, walking up to the porch. "I need your help."

Soon, the door opens and Derek walks out to the porch. Ryder proceeds to speak, "Okay, I know I was a part of you getting arrested and that we basically announced you being here to the hunters. I also don't know what happened to your sister. But I did something list night, I had a dream about someone, but someone else got hurt and it turns out that part of the dream might've actually happened."

"You think you attacked the driver?" Derek asked.

"Did you see what I did last night?"

"No."

"Can you at least tell me the truth?" Ryder asks. "Am I gonna hurt someone?"

"Yes."

"Could I kill someone?"

"Yes."

"Am I gonna kill someone?"

"You probably will." Ryder's eyes widen and he walks to a wooden post that holds the roof up as Derek continues. "Look, I can show you how to remember. I can show you how to control the shift, even on a full moon. But it's not gonna come for free."

"What do you want?"

"You'll find out. But for now, I'm gonna give you what you want. Go back to the bus, go inside, see it, feel it. Let your senses, your sight, smell, touch...Let them remember for you." He instructed.

"That's it?" Ryder asked. "Just go back?"

"Do you want to know what happened?"

"I just want to know if I hurt him."

"No, you don't." Derek responded. "You want to know if you'll hurt _her_."

_**[School]**_

Later that evening, Ryder and Robbie drive up to the school. They get out and Robbie starts to follow Ryder to the gate. "Hey, no, just me." Ryder stopped him. "Someone needs to keep watch."

"How come I'm always the guy keeping watch?"

"Well, because there are only two of us."

"Okay, why's it starting to feel like you're Batman and I'm Robin?" Robbie asked loudly. "I don't want to be Robin all the time."

"No one is Batman and Robin any of the time." Ryder responds.

"Not even some of the time?" He asks, scoffing.

"Just stay here." Ryder orders.

"Oh my god...!" Robbie shouted, starting to walk back to his jeep. Ryder starts climbing the gate and jumps when he gets to the top. He makes his way to the bus and went in.

He walked down the bus and touches every sign of blood on it. He gets a flashback of someone tearing one of the seats and throwing it to the front. Ryder took his hand off of the seat and starts having other visions.

Robbie sees a light floating in the air and sits up straight. The light shines through the windows of the bus, but Ryder isn't seen. He sneaks out and runs to Robbie's car.

"Go! Go! Go! Go!" Ryder shouts, jumping in.

"Did it work?" Robbie asked as he drives. "Did you remember?"

"Yeah, I was there last night and the blood...a lot of it is mine."

"So you did attack him?"

"No, I saw glowing eyes in the bus, but they weren't mine. It was Derek."

Robbie asks, "What about the driver?"

"I think I was actually trying to protect him."

"Wait, why would Derek help you remember that he attacked the driver?"

Ryder stammers to answer his question. "That's what I don't get."

"That's gotta be a pack thing."

"What do you mean?" Ryder asked.

"Like an initiation, you do the kill together."

"Yeah, because ripping someone's throat out is a real bonding experience?" Ryder asked sarcastically.

"Yeah, but you didn't do it, which means you're not a killer. And it also means that..."

Ryder gets excited and finishes for him, "I can go out with Jade."

"I was gonna say it means you won't kill me."

"Oh yeah," Ryder paused. "That too..."

_**[Jade's House]**_

Jade opens her bedroom closet and picks out something to wear for the date. She smirks and grabs a black shirt with dark roses. She turns around and faces Cat.

"Mm, pass." Cat says, sitting on the bed. Jade turns back to her closet and picks out a different shirt. It's orange, white, and green and has a little bit of forest green. "Pass." Jade groans in frustration as Cat gets up and walks to Jade's closet. "Let me see."

"Pass...Pass...Ugh, pass on all of it." Cat says. "Jade, respect for you taste is, uh, dwindling by the second." She stokes Jade's hair. She laughs and turns back to the closet.

"Hmm..." She finds a shirt and picks it up. She examines it for a second. "This." Cat has a black and shiny shirt in her hand. Jade holds it up to her chest and her dad comes in, putting on his jacket.

"Dad, hello..." Jade greets her, emotionless. Mr. West looks up at her and smiles, then he remembers what he was gonna say.

"Right, I'm sorry. I'm sorry, I completely forgot to knock."

"Hi, Mr. West." Cat greets, plopping down on Jade's bed, resting her head on her hand, putting her other hand on her hip.

Jade asks, "Dad, do you need something?"

"I wanted to tell you that you'll be staying in tonight."

"What?" Jade asks. "I'm going out with my friends tonight."

"Not when some animal out there is attacking people." He sneers.

"Dad, dad, I'm...uh..."

"It's out of my hand. There's a curfew. No one's allowed out past 9:30p.m." Mr. West interrupts her. "Hey, no more arguing." Mr. West says as Jade throws her shirt on the bed. Jade sighs and crosses her arms over her chest. Mr. West walks out of the room.

"Hmph..." Cat says, getting up. "Someone's daddy's little girl."

"I am sometimes, but not tonight." Cat was surprised that came out of Jade. Jade walks to the window and pulls the curtains back, opening the window. As Jade walks out onto the roof, Cat ran to the window and poked her head out.

"What are you doing?" Cat asked.

Jade jumped down and then looked up at her. "Eight years of gymnastics. Are you coming?" Jade whispered.

"I'll take the stairs."

_**[Bowling Alley]**_

Cat and Andre are tying their bowling shoes and Jade and Ryder are picking out a ball. "You look like you know what you're doing." Ryder says, watching as Jade puts a large blue ball down.

"I used to bowl with my dad." Jade said. "When was the last time you bowled?"

"Uh, at a birthday party..." Ryder said. Jade picks up a ball and then walks to the table to see Andre's arm around Cat. Ryder whispers, "...when I was eight."

Cat stands in front of the bowling alley and Andre comes up behind her. She enjoyed this moment for a second then got ready to bowl. Andre helps her, but misses. They give it another try and knock down 3 pins. Cat gets mad, "I'm so bad at this."

They walk back to the bench and sit down. Jade picks up a purple ball and bowls, striking. Ryder smiles at how good she was as she comes back to the bench. "Somebody brought their A-game." Cat says as Jade took a seat.

Soon, Andre is up and strikes, "Whoo, yes!" Cat cheers.

"You're up, Daniels." Andre says, sitting back down and putting his arm around Cat.

"You can do it, Ryder." Jade encouraged him, nudging him to get up. He grabs the ball and walks to the row for Jade, Andre, Cat, and him.

He sighs and prepares for failure. The ball goes into the gutter and Andre suddenly laughs. "Andre? Do you mind shutting up?" Jade asked as Cat tried to hold in a laugh.

"I'm sorry. I'm just flashing back to the words 'I'm a great bowler'."

"Maybe he just needs a little warm up." Jade suggests.

"Yeah, maybe he just needs the kiddy bumpers." Andre says and they both start laughing, earning a glare from Jade.

"Just...just aim for the middle." Jade instructs Ryder as he grabs another ball.

Andre suggests, "How aim for anything except for the gutter?"

Jade scowls at them, "Let him concentrate."

"Come on, just one pin, please." Ryder prays with a deep sigh and looks up at the heavens. He rolls the ball onto the ground and when it's about to hit a pin, the ball decides to go for the gutter.

Andre starts laughing again, but Cat tries to get him to stop. "Great job, Daniels." Andre teased, watching as Ryder sat on the bench. "Man, you're a pro."

"Don't worry. We only just started." Jade said, putting her hair behind her ear.

Soon, it's Ryder's turn again and he dreads it. Jade hesitates to get up and walk to him. She finally decides to and heads toward him. "Ryder, you're thinking too much." She says.

"I know, I'm sorry," Ryder apologized. "I'm ruining this."

"No, no, not at all, but I wouldn't mind shutting them up so just clear your head and think about something else." Jade whispers a few pioneers in her ear. "Think about me..." She starts to walk away, but comes back and whispers, "Naked." She then walks to the bench and sits down.

Ryder's werewolf senses kick in and his vision turns red. He must've been thinking hard, because he got a strike. Jade laughs and Cat turns to her with a serious look and asks, "What did you tell him?"

"Uh, I just gave him something to think about." Jade says as Ryder comes back to the bench and sits down.

_**[Gas Station]**_

Derek pulls up in his car and gets out. He puts the gas tank in the gas holder beside his car. Two cars pull up in front and behind them. Mr. West gets out and straightens his jacket. The gas pump beeps and two hunters come out of the car. Derek looks at them and takes the gas pump out.

"Nice ride." Mr. West starts, walking over to the car. "Although, black cars are very hard to keep clean that I would definitely suggest a little more maintenance. If you have something this nice, you want to take care of it right?" He grabs a screen sweeper and cleans the back of the car's window. "Personally, I'm very protective of the things I love. But that's something I learned from my family. And you don't have much of that these days. Do you?"

Derek clenches his fist. "There we go." Mr. West said, seeing Derek make his hand into a fist. He put the sweeper down into the bin. "You can actually see through your windshield now. See how that makes everything so much clearer?" He starts walking to his car when Derek speaks up.

"You forgot to check the oil."

Mr. West turns around. "Check the man's oil." One of the hunters walks to the side of the car and smashes the window.

"It looks good to me."

"Drive safely." Mr. West leaves and so do the other hunters.

_**[Bowling Alley]**_

Ryder is getting better at bowling and Jade, Cat, and Andre can't believe it. Jade laughs in amazement as Ryder score another strike.

"That is seriously amazing." Jade says. She turns to Andre. "Andre, uh, how many strikes is that?"

"It's six in a row." Cat laughs and turns to Jade and Ryder.

"Something just clicked, I guess." Ryder speaks as Cat stands up and places her hand on her arm.

"Maybe it's natural talent." Jade suggested.

Cat is the next one to speak, "I could use some natural talent. You mind helping me out this time, Ryder?" Cat asks.

"No, you're good. Go for it."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence." Cat says, walking to the row of balls.

"Hey, I'll help." Andre says, getting up.

"How about I just try this on my own?" Cat asked and Andre took that as a signal to sit down. Cat shoots the ball onto the ground and it rolls to the pins, earning her a strike. She punches the air and turns around.

"I think I'm getting the hang of it." Cat says once she sits down.

"That was sort of perfect form." Jade commented in disbelief.

Cat asks, "Was it?"

Jade leans toward her, signaling a whisper so Cat leans in forward to. Jade whispers, "Maybe you should stop pretending to suck just for his benefit."

"Trust me; I do plenty of sucking just for his benefit." Cat says. She motions her eyebrows as the two girls pull away. "Andre." She says, looking back at him and sees that he's glaring angrily.

"What?"

"I don't like your look."

"I don't care." He responds, arms crossed over his chest.

She sits up straight, leaning over him and whispers, "Can you at least attempt to have a good time, please?"

Cat looks at her, "Can you not invite me out with your lame friends?"

"Okay, then." They don't notice Jade and Ryder look at each other awkwardly. "And try not to hurt your wrist out there. You are definitely gonna need it tonight."

"At least I have a tight grip."

Cat rolls her eyes and slaps him on the leg, "Let's start a new game, okay? I'll go first." She jumps up and walks away to grab another ball. She strikes once again.

When their date comes to a close, Jade and Cat are taking their bowling shoes off and putting on their normal shoes while Andre is playing at a game machine. Ryder comes over and watches.

"Nice shot, man." He compliments Andre; Andre just glares at him. "Listen, I know we both didn't want to be here. But the thing is we don't have to hate each other.

Andre looks up at him. "I don't hate you. I just don't believe you. You know, you got everyone thinking everything's fine and normal about you, but I know something's off. You cheated tonight."

"How do you cheat at bowling?"

"I don't know, but you did. And I don't know if it's steroids or something weirder. I'm guessing weirder since it's pretty obvious you're a freak. So don't think for a second I've given up on finding out what your little secret is."

"I don't have any secrets." Ryder lied.

"Yeah, you do, and here's the other thing. I don't know why, but I think whatever you're hiding, you don't want her to find out about it either." Andre looks at Jade. The bell from the machine starts ringing.

_**[Hospital]**_

Derek walks into Mr. Meyers' hospital room. "Open your eyes." Derek orders. Mr. Meyers' eyes open and he look at the ceiling. "Look at me"

"What do you remember?" Derek asked.

"Hale." Mr. Meyers' suddenly says, making Derek confused.

"How do you know my name?"

"I'm sorry."

"How do you know me?"

"I'm sorry."

_**[Hospital Hallway]**_

"Girl, I'm outta here." Melissa says, walking out of a room. "There's a full DVR of unwatched television waiting to remind me how ridiculously single I really am." She grabs her jacket, purse, and keys.

When she walks to her desk, she sees an alert flashing on her screen. "Rose, call a code, Room 13." She runs to Mr. Meyer's room and walks in to see no Derek and Mr. Meyers is dead.

_**[Jade's Porch]**_

Ryder and Jade walk to her porch and start to chat. "So, uh, do you think we could hang out again soon?" Ryder asked.

"Absolutely." Jade responded. "But I have to admit something. Um, I'm not big on group dates. So next time, just the two of us."

Ryder sighs with relief, "I could totally handle more of that."

"Great." Jade says, giving him a kiss.

"Jade?" He stops her by grabbing her hand when she walks to the door. Ryder brings her back to him and pulls her into a soft, sweet kiss.

Jade pulls away and bites her lip. "And I could handle more of that." Ryder smiles and walks off. Mr. West appears to have been watching the whole time.

_**[Ryder's Room]**_

Melissa walks down the hall upstairs to Ryder's room and his lights are off. When she turns away, she hears someone come in from his window and sees a figure jumping on his bed. She walks in and grabs a bat. She turns on the light to see Robbie and they scream.

Shouting, Melissa asks, "What the hell are you doing here?"

"What am I doing?" Robbie asked. "God, do either of you even play baseball?"

"What?" Ryder comes in.

"Can you please tell you friend to use the front door?" Melissa asks.

"But we lock the front door; he wouldn't be able to get in."

"Yeah, exactly, and by the way, do any of you care that there's a police enforced curfew?

"No." Robbie and Ryder say at the same time.

"No. Alright then, well, you know what?" Melissa tosses the bat on the bed. "That's enough parenting for me for one night, so good night." Melissa walks out. Robbie sighs and looks at Ryder.

"What?" Ryder asked, sensing something was wrong.

"My dad left for the hospital fifteen minutes ago. It's the bus driver; they said he succumbed to his wounds."

"Succumbed...?"

"Ryder, he's dead." Robbie says abruptly.

_**[Derek's House]**_

Ryder arrives at Derek's house and walks in. "Derek, I know you're here!" Ryder shouted, walking slowly up the stairs. "I know what you did!"

"I didn't do anything." Derek's voice boomed, but he was nowhere to be seen.

Ryder exclaims, "You killed him!"

"He died."

"Like your sister died?"

"My sister was missing; I came here looking for her."

"You found her." Ryder said.

"I found her in pieces being used as bait to catch me."

"I think you killed them both. I'm gonna tell everyone, starting with the Sheriff." When he reaches the top of the stairs, Ryder comes out of nowhere and throws Ryder down the stairs. Ryder gets up, in werewolf form, and roars. Derek jumps from the top to the bottom and lands on his feet. Before Derek could reach, Ryder throws him in some scaffolding, causing him to fall into another rom.

"Huh. That was cute." Derek says sarcastically then pops his neck, causing him to shift. Ryder runs into the room where Ryder is. Ryder throws him against the ground, chocking him. When the fight end, Ryder sits in a chair, panting.

"I didn't kill him." Derek starts. "Neither of us did. It's not your fault and it's not mine."

"This? This is your entire fault!" Ryder shouted, getting up. "You ruined my life!"

"No, I didn't."

"You're the one who bit me."

"No, I'm not."

Ryder asks, "What?"

"I'm not the one that bit you." Ryder feels the scars on his chest and gets more flashbacks. He sits down on the chair and looks Derek.

"There's another."

"It's called an alpha. It's the most dangerous of our kind. You and I; we're betas. This thing is more powerful, more animal than either of us. My sister came here looking for him. Now, I'm trying to find him, but I don't think I can do it with you."

"Why can't you do it without me, exactly?"

"Because he's the one who bit you and you're part of his pack. It's you, Ryder. You're the one he wants."

Right outside, the alpha is peering in the woods, standing outside of the house.


	7. Magic Bullet (Corrected)

Chapter 7 - Magic Bullet

Kate West drives down the road in the middle of the night, listening to the radio as she makes her way to Mr. West's house. _"In news, local authorities remain perplexed by the animal attacks plaguing Los Angeles." _Kate scoffs and turns the channel. Pop music begins to play on the radio. Something passes her car and growls. When she is looking away from the window, a large animal appears beside her and its eyes glow bright red.

It disappears when she looks straight. The figure knows that once she sees him in the corner of her eye, bad things will happen.

First, she senses some weirdness and looks in the review mirror. She looks in the back and sees nothing. She looks everywhere and looks in the review mirror several times to check. When she looks back to her front, she sees car coming toward her. Luckily, he passes her car and speeds away and she screams. "Nice driving Kate, nice." Kate whispers to herself sarcastically.

Suddenly, there is a loud clank on the top of her car. She looks up in suspicion and slowly reaches for her gun in the back of the car but before she grabs it, a big hand breaks the window and attacks her. She fights it and it leaves. She grabs her gun, jumps out and points it at the buildings. She stands up and shouts, "Come on! Come on!"

Derek is running on the rooftop, tracking down the Alpha when he sees a little bit of blood on the ground. He bends down and then looks up when he hears a roar. He sees the Alpha leaving. As he starts running toward the direction the alpha went, searing pain rushes through him. Kate has shot him. As he leans against a building, he rolls his sleeve up to see a glowing blue hole in his arm. Kate walks to the back of her car and opens the trunk to reveal a bag of werewolf hunting supplies.

**[West Home]**

Mr. West walks toward the door and Jade's voice stops him. "What's going on?" She asked in a groggy voice.

"Your Aunt Kate just texted; I'm heading out to pick her up."

"It's 2:00 in the morning. Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, yeah, she's just having car trouble."

"Not serious, is it?"

"No, it's just a flat tire. Go back to bed sweetheart." He says and Jade walks back to her room. Mr. West leaves and drives to Kate's location.

**[Kate's Location]**

The gun's bang wakes up Ryder. He lifts up his head and then hears the gun again. He jumps up and gets some clothes on. He quietly walks down the halls and heads toward the bang.

He slowly looks, still hiding, and sees Mr. West and Kate talking.

"_Get in." Mr. West orders her. _

"_Not even, "Hello, nice to see you." _

"_All I've got at the moment is, 'Please put the assault rifle away before someone notices.'"_

_Kate scoffs. "That's the brother I love. Chris, there were two of them." _

"_The Alpha...?" _

"_I don't know but one of them tried to kill me." _Ryder cocks his ear to hear more.

"_One of them is gonna lead us to the other. He can't do that if he's dead." _

"_Well, I can't help kill either of them if one of them kills me first." _

"_How long will it take?" _

"_I give him 48 hours; if that." Kate mocks before walking to his car._

_**[Jade's House]**_

The next morning, Kate is unpacking. "Whoo...!" Jade shouts, coming down the hall to the guest room where Kate was staying in. Both of them laugh as they embrace each other in a hug. "I don't see you for a year, and you turn into a freaking runway model?" Kate complimented Jade as she walked to one of her bags.

"Oh..." Jade denied and sat on the bed.

"Look at you." Kate said. "Oh! Hate you." Kate teased.

"I haven't even showered yet." Jade lays her head on her arm.

"Sweetie, you're a knockout. In fact, I hope you have the boys knocking each other's teeth out for your attention."

"I kind of have one."

"You kind of have one? Well, you should kind of have a million." Kate tells her and they both start laughing. Jade decides to help but Kate stops her from opening a bag. "No! Not that one! Oh. See? You turn out beautiful, and I end up with this kung Fu death grip. Sorry, sweetie. I didn't mean to be rough." Kate says picking up some clothes and walks to the closet.

"No worries." Jade responds. "Hey, is everything okay with your car?" Jade wonders.

"Uh, yeah, I just needed a jump start, that's all."

"It needed a jumpstart?"

_**[Class] **_

Ryder sits in class, looking at the teacher as he passes out the test grades. Robbie taps Ryder on the shoulder to ask him a question. "If Derek isn't the alpha, if he's not the one who bit you, and then who did?"

"I don't know." Ryder shrugs.

"Did the alpha kill the bus driver?"

"I don't know."

Robbie sits back and sighs. "Does Jade's dad know about the alpha?"

"I don't know!" Beck shouted and everyone looked at him.

"Jeez." Robbie says as the teachers put his test grade on his desk.

Ryder gets his paper. The paper says "Not like you! See me after class." And it has a giant D on it.

Robbie looks over Ryder's shoulder and sees the grade. "Dude, you need to study more." Ryder throws his paper down as a sign of aggravation. "That was a joke." Robbie defends. "Ryder, it is one test. You're gonna make it up. Do you want help studying?"

Ryder sighs. "No. I'm studying with Jade after school today."

"That's my boy." Robbie smirks.

"We're just studying."

"Uh, no, you're not."

"No, I'm not?"

"Not if I'm forced to live vicariously through you. If you go to her house today and squander that colossal opportunity, I swear I'll have you de-balled."

"Okay, just...stop with the questions, man."

"Done; no more questions. No more talk about the Alpha or Derek...who still scares me."

**[School Hallway]**

Derek walks down the hall, looking for Ryder as he tries to look casual and not like he's dying. He sees Andre at his locker and heads towards him. "Where's Ryder Daniels?"

Andre looks at him and closes his locker. "Why should I tell you?"

"You should tell me because I asked you politely and I only do that once."

"Hmm. Okay, tough guy. You know, how about I help you find him if you tell me what you're selling him? What is it?" Andre asked, crossing his arms over his chest. "Is it, uh, Dianabol? Hm...Is it HGH?"

"It's steroids." Derek lies and he starts walking away.

"No, Girl Scout cookies...What the hell do you think I'm talking about? Oh, and, uh, by the way, whatever it is you're out selling, I'd probably stop sampling the merchandise. You look wrecked." Derek looks down and notices droplets of his blood falling on the floor.

He made his hand into a fist and looked up at Andre. "I'll find him myself." Andre grabs his shoulder to stop him and Derek slams him against the lockers and sticks his claws into the back of Andre's neck. Derek walks away and leans against a wall and is right under the school bell.

When the bell rings, he winces at the loudness and hears Jade and Cat talking.

_**[Jade and Cat]**_

"Is Ryder coming over? Is he tonight?"

"We're just studying together."

"Just studying" never ends with just studying. It's like getting into a hot tub...somebody eventually cops a feel."

"Well, so what are you saying?"

"I'm just saying, you know, make sure he covers up." Jade is confused and Cat chuckles. "Hello, Snow White! I'm talking about a condom." Cat chuckles and follows her up the steps.

"Are you kidding, even after one date?"

"Don't be a total prude. Give him a little taste."

"Well, I mean, how much is "a little taste"?"

"Oh, god, you really like him, don't you?"

"Well..." Jade sighs. "He's just different. When I first moved here, I had a plan: no boyfriends till college. I just move too much. But...then I met him, and he was different. I don't know." Jade laughs. "I can't explain it."

"I can. It's your brain flooding with phenylethylamine."

Jade laughs again. "What?"

Cat just puts her head back, slightly annoyed. "I'll tell you what to do. When's he coming over?"

"He's coming right after school."

"Hmm..."

_**[Outside School]**_

Derek walks outside and onto the street where Robbie is about to drive off. Derek stops his car and Robbie's tires screech to a stop. "Oh, my god...!" Derek collapses and Robbie starts honking his horn. Ryder looks up from his bike and sees the scene.

"You've got to be kidding me. This guy's everywhere." Robbie tells himself.

"Oh, no, not here..." Ryder runs to Robbie's car. "What the hell?" Robbie gets out and runs with Ryder to Derek's side.

"What are you doing here?"

"I was shot."

"He's not looking so good, dude." Derek glares at Robbie.

"Why aren't you healing?"

"I can't. It was...it was a different kind of bullet."

"Was it a silver bullet?" Robbie asks.

"No it wasn't, you idiot."

"Wait, wait. That's what she meant when you had 48 hours."

"What?" Derek asks, breathing heavily. "Who...who said 48 hours?"

"The one who shot you said that." Derek's eyes glow on in on as he groans and the pain gets worse. "What are you doing? Stop that!"

"That's what I'm trying to tell you, I can't!"

"Ryder, get up!"

Full of wonder, Andre gets out of her car and walks toward the scene. But Ryder and Robbie get him in Robbie's car before Jade makes it over there.

Ryder closes the door. "I need you find out what kind of bullet they used."

"How the hell am I supposed to do that?"

"Cause she's a West. She's with them."

"Why should I help you?"

"You should help me because you need me."

"Fine, I'll try." Ryder sighs and looks in the distance. He then looks at Robbie who is starting to get in. "Get him out of here."

"I hate you for this so much." Robbie says as he starts the car. Robbie drives off and Jade starts talking to Ryder.

"Hey. What was he doing here?"

"Robbie was just, um, giving him a ride. Uh, long story."

"But I thought you said you weren't friends with him."

"No, not really. Um, we're still studying together, right? So, I'll meet you back at your place?"

"Yeah."

"Okay, bye." Ryder kissed her on the cheek and went to his bike after Jade said, "See you later."

Ryder gets on his bike and looks behind him to see Andre staring at him. Andre just gets back in his car next to Cat.

**[Jade's House]**

Ryder speeds on his bike to Jade's house. He almost crashes into Jade's blue car but stops just in time. He waves to her and she gets out. "How did you...you got here the same time I did." Jade walks to the door and Ryder gets off to follow her.

"Oh. Yeah, I...I just took a shortcut...a really short shortcut."

"What is going on with you today? You're acting all kinds of bizarre."

"I'm just..." Ryder tries to find an excuse. "I'm just stressing about classes. I'm not doing as good this year."

"Not doing as well." Jade corrected him.

"See? Exactly." Ryder says as they walk up the steps and Jade opens the door.

"Maybe we should start with English." Jade says as she walks inside and looks at Ryder. He hesitates to go in. "Don't worry! Nobody's gonna be home for hours. Come on."

"Okay." Ryder walks in and they head upstairs to Jade's room to see a few painted colors on her wall that hasn't fully been painted yet.

"I'm still unpacking." Jade informs him as she sets her books down.

"Uh, haven't you been here, for like, over a month?"

"I'm taking my time." Ryder sets his jacket on her bed and she takes her leather jacket off which uncovers the top part of her blue flower dress.

"So, uh, I figure that we...start with um history..." Jade walks over to him and turns him around. She starts kissing him and they fall onto the bed. Ryder kisses her back but with more passion. In the midst of their make-out, Ryder's hand goes up and down her back and goes to her butt.

She laughs and keeps kissing him. When he looks, his claws are out. He quickly hides his hands under the quilt of her bed. "What's wrong?" Jade asks as she looks at his shocked face.

"Um...it's nothing. I just...I...don't want to make you feel like you have to do something you don't wanna do."

"I'm not doing anything I don't wanna do. Are you?"

"Seriously asking me that question?"

They both chuckle and Jade is about to kiss Ryder when his phone rings. "Are you gonna answer that?"

"Um, uh, it's probably just Robbie. It'll go to voicemail eventually." Jade laughs and they go back to kissing. Since Ryder was so nervous, Jade reached for his phone but Ryder's hand came out as he tried to stop her and Jade immediately put her hand back on Ryder's chest. Ryder holds hand up to see his claws are gone.

Jade sits up and looks at him. "Uh, yeah, I should answer now."

Ryder sits up and gets his phone to see a text from Robbie.

_Robbie (Mobile)_

_Did you find it yet?_

**[Robbie's Jeep]**

Robbie drives down the road as a pale Derek sits beside him, wincing at the pain. He takes out his phone when his phone buzzes.

_Ryder: Need more time. _

Robbie bangs his phone on the seat. "Come on." Robbie looks to see blood dripping onto the seats. "Hey, try not to bleed out on my seats, okay? We're almost there."

"Almost where...?"

"Your house..." Robbie sighs.

"What? No, you can't take me there."

"I can't take you to your _own house_?" Robbie scoffs.

"Not when I can't protect myself." Robbie pulls to the side of the road.

"What happens if Ryder doesn't find your little magic bullet?" Robbie asks. "Hm...? Are you dying?"

"Not yet." Derek says as he breaths heavily. "I have a last resort."

"What do you mean? What last resort?" Robbie shouts as Derek pulls up his sleeve and a steep arm mountain with a puddle of blood shows up. "Oh, my god...! What is that?" Robbie groans in disgust. "Oh, is that contagious? You know what; you should probably just get out."

"Start the car...now."

"I don't think you should be barking orders with the way you look, okay. In fact, I think if I wanted to, I could probably drag your little werewolf butt into the road and leave you for dead."

"Start the car, or I'm gonna rip your throat out...with my teeth." Ryder threatens. With no choice, the engine starts up and Robbie drives off.

**[Jade's Room]**

Ryder turns his ringer off and Jade sits beside him. "It's off. Sorry about that." Ryder looks at a box where he sees a picture of Mr. West and Kate. "Who's this?" Ryder asks as he picks it up and points at Kate.

"That's my dad's sister Kate, except she's more like my sister. She got here last night."

"Uh, last night...?"

"Yes. She had some car trouble, I guess."

"She looks familiar."

"Mmm, she actually used to live in Los Angeles. Maybe you saw her once." said Jade as she looked at the picture.

Ryder looks at her and then puts the picture down. He sees more pictures and takes them out. "Did you take these?" Ryder chuckles.

"Back when I thought I was a photographer."

"They're good." Ryder compliments them as he flips through the pages, looking at each and every one of them.

"No, they're not." Jade denies. "I stopped when I realized I was terrible at it." Jade takes them and points out its flaws. "Framing's off, bad lighting...believe me, not good."

Ryder then takes out papers with designs on them. He looks at one that has a pair, apple, banana, and orange painted on it. "That was when I thought I was into painting." Jade explains. "Uh, that's terrible, too."

Ryder sees a folder titled _Poetry _and grabs it. "That's when I tried poetry. "Terrible" doesn't even come close to describing that." Jade laughs as she looks at the previous painting they had looked at.

"What are you good at?"

"I'm gonna show you if you promise not to laugh." Jade informed him.

Ryder and Jade get up and she guides him to the garage. She opens the door and they walk into a huge garage. "So I was naturally ranked as a kid, and my dad really wanted me to go on, but I don't know." Jade walks to a box as Ryder closes the door. "I just didn't really like it. Promise you won't laugh?" Jade asks as Ryder looks all around.

"I promise." Ryder turns around to see Jade holding up a blue compound bow with a green string at the end. He jumps back. "What the hell is that?"

"It's a compound bow, and I'm pretty sure it requires an arrow to be harmful."

"So that's what you good at." Ryder pointed out. "Archery..."

Jade gets up after putting the compound bow up. "You said you wouldn't laugh." Jade chuckles.

"Trust me, I'm..." Ryder trails off after seeing a bunch of guns and bullets. "Not laughing." He finishes. Ryder slowly walks to them, analyzing every one of them.

"So I guess I should explain." Jade says and walks toward him. "We're not some sort of separatist gun-nut family. My dad sells firearms to the law enforcement."

"Oh, that's good." Ryder lied since she knew that she was lying and her family was lying to her.

"So, um...are you planning on enjoying the family business?"

"I don't know. You tell me." Jade pulls Ryder closer to her. "Would I look hot with a gun?" Ryder leans against a shelf and wraps Ryder's arms around her.

"You'd look hotter without." Ryder says then kisses her. The door creaks open and she gasps. She drags Ryder over to the side of her dad's car and duck.

"Hey, Chris, get your ass out of the '50s and come help with groceries." They hear Kate shout in the distance.

"Be right there!" Chris shouts as he puts a box down. He walks to the edge of his car and looks at the supplies. He looks down at them, signaling he saw them before they hid.

"You two mind helping?" Jade and Ryder nod and get up to walk outside of the house and help with groceries.

Ryder takes the last bag out of Kate's car and walks towards the door but Chris stops him before he's able to walk up the steps and go in. He takes the bag and holds it. "Thank you." Chris says. Ryder's phone chimes.

_Robbie (Mobile)_

_Derek isn't looking so good_

Jade comes out and walks toward him. He looks up and sees her. "So, do you still want to study?"

"I think she'll concentrate on her own." Mr. West tells him as Kate walks up after closing the car's trunk.

"Um...guess I'll see you later then." Ryder tells her.

"You'll see her at school." Mr. West doesn't let Jade talk. Ryder and Jade are about to hug when Mr. West stops them. "Hey, hey, you, on your bike." He points to Ryder and his bike then points to Jade. "You, inside."

"Oh, come on, Chris." Kate starts. "Really...? They were making out in the garage, not shooting amateur porn." She points out. She puts her hand on Ryder's shoulder and looks at him. "You, with the adorable blue eyes, drop your bike. You're staying for dinner."

She walks away into the house and Jade looks at him and smiles forcefully. She then follows Kate. Mr. West looks at Ryder. "You eat meat?" Ryder nods eagerly but quickly stops.

"You don't mind?" Ryder asks as he reaches Mr. West.

"Actually, no...Give us a chance to get to know each other."

They walk in and head to the kitchen.

Soon, Ryder and Jade are getting the table ready together. As she puts a cup down, Jade says, "He doesn't hate you. He's just protective."

"He hates me." Ryder says, walking around her to put another plate down.

"I wouldn't call it hate."

Ryder asks, "Intense dislike...?"

"That's more like it." Jade nods.

"Should I just not say anything?"

"No," Jade whines. "I want you to say stuff, just don't say anything stupid." She sees him looking at her and chuckles a little bit. "Not that you're going to. Just...okay, just be the amazingly charming, sweet guy that you always are. And be confident because he will like you if you're confident."

"Don't I look confident?"

"You will when you stop sweating." She chuckles when Ryder exhales and wipes his forehead. "You're gonna be great. I'm not worried." Jade hesitantly walks away like she's gonna say something, but she goes to the kitchen pantry.

Soon, everyone is at the dinner table. Ryder's heart beats loudly as dishes clank. "Would you like something else to drink besides water, Ryder?" Mrs. West asked.

"Oh...no, I'm good. Thanks."

"Get you some beer?" Mr. West started challenging Ryder to see if he was a bad boy.

Jade and Ryder looked at him. "No thanks."

"Shot of tequila?"

"Dad, really?" Jade looked at him with a look of embarrassment.

"You don't drink, Ryder?"

"I'm not old enough to."

"That doesn't seem to stop many teenagers." Mrs. West joins the conversation.

"No, but it should."

"Good answer." said Kate. "Total lie but well played, Ryder." She adds then continues. "You may yet survive the night." She looks at Ryder as she puts a bite of meat in her mouth.

"Ever smoke pot?" Jade slams her cup down in anger and sits back and Ryder almost chokes on his water.

"Okay, changing the channel to something a little less conservative." Kate said as she laughed.

**Tori's POV**

Thank god for Kate. Thank you for making things less awkward than they were the previous minute.

"So, Ryder, uh, Jade tells us you're on the lacrosse team." Kate strikes up a different subject. "I'm sorry. I don't know anything about that. How do you play?"

"Um, well, you know hockey?"

"Mmm-hmm."

"It's a lot like that, but we only, um, play on grass instead of ice."

"Hockey on grass is called field hockey." What's the difference, Dad?

"Oh." AWKWARD is the description of this dinner.

"So, it's _like_ field hockey." I say. "Except the sticks have nets."

"Exactly." Ryder's phone chimes right after he says that.

"And can you slap check in field hockey?" Ryder looks at his phone as Kate asks.

"Um...yeah." He says looking up at her. "But it's only the, uh, the gloves and the sticks."

"It sounds violent. I like it." Kate looks at dad, possibly trying to annoy him.

"Ryder's amazing, too. Dad came with me to the first game." I inform Kate.

"Wasn't he good?"

"He was fine."

"He scored the last shot, the winning shot."

"True, but he didn't score at all until the last few minutes."

I ignore him. "His last shot ripped a hole through the goalie's net. It was incredible." I say as I pick up my drink and take a sip of my water.

"Well, I think the goalie was probably playing with a defective stick, so..." I get annoyed and put my drink down with a bang and a clank.

Ryder takes my hand and holds it. "You know, on second thought, um...I think I'll take that shot of tequila." I smile and mom and Kate laugh.

"You were kidding, right?" Dad asks as he holds his drink up.

"Yeah."

**Nobody's POV**

**[Robbie's Jeep]**

"What am I supposed to do with him?" Robbie asks Ryder who's on the other line.

"_Take him somewhere, anywhere._"

Robbie sighs and complains about Derek's smell. "And, by the way, he's starting to smell."

"_Like...like what?" _

"Like death."

"_Okay, take him to the animal clinic." _

"What about your boss?"

"_He's gone by now. There's a spare key in the box behind the dumpster." _Robbie sighs and hands the phone to Ryder.

"You'll never believe where he's telling me to take you." He informs Derek.

"Did you find it?" Derek asks.

"_How am I supposed to find one bullet? They have a million. This house is like the freaking Wal-Mart of guns." _

"Look, if you don't find it, then I'm dead, all right?"

"_I'm starting to think that wouldn't be such a bad thing." _

"Then think about this. The alpha called you out against your will. He's gonna do it again. Next time, you either kill with him or you get killed. So if you want to stay alive, then you need me. Find the bullet." Ryder takes the phone away from his ear and ends the call.

**[Jade's House - Hallway]**

Ryder puts his phone down and hesitantly walks to the garage door. When he puts his hand on the handle and turns it, the alarm blares. Kate clears her throat and Ryder turns around to see a suspicious look on her face. "You look like a little lost puppy."

"Um..." Ryder tries to find an excuse. "I'm just trying to find the bathroom."

"You're looking for the bathroom?" Kate asked. "Does that look like a bathroom?"

"No." Ryder says, nodding his head.

"Use the guest bedroom." Kate points down the hall.

"Okay." Ryder starts walking to the door and turns around to see Kate standing there with a suspicious look on her face. He goes in and quietly closes the door. He is about to walk to the bathroom but catches something in the corner of his eye. He sees the bag under Kate's bed. He walks to it and kneels down next to it. He quietly unzips the bag and opens it to see tons of bullets.

He grabs a little brown box. He opens it and sees 9 out of 10 bullets there. He takes one and holds it up. His eyes turn yellow. He puts it in his pocket and closes the box. He looks back at the door and it's still closed. He looks at the top of the box and it reads,

_ACONIT NAPEL BLEU NORDIQUE _

He pulls out his phone and translates it.

_ACONIT NAPEL BLEU NORIQUE - Nordic Blue Monkshood. _

He quickly puts his phone in his pocket, put the box back in the bag, and zip it.

**[Animal Clinic]**

Robbie opens the door to be greeted by dogs barking. His phone beeps as Derek walks in and sits on some bags of food. "Does Nordic blue monkshood mean anything to you?" Robbie asks as he reads the texts from Ryder.

"It's a rare form of wolf's bait. He has to bring me the bullet."

"Why?"

"Because I'm gonna die without it."

**[Jade's House - Dining Room]**

Ryder walks into the dining room to see them eating. "Hey, um, I should get going. Um, thanks for the dinner."

"Oh, no, no, no, no, no, you have to stay for dessert. I wanna know about you." Kate stops him from leaving. "Sit down." She orders, pointing to the chair beside Jade.

"Jade was just telling us that you work for a veterinarian."

"I told them how you put the cast on the dog I hit." His phone chimes for the 18th time that night.

_Robbie (Mobile) _

_You need to get here NOW_

"What does your boss think of the animal attacks?" Mr. West asks. "You have any theories?"

"Everyone was just saying it's a mountain lion." Kate laughs.

"It'd have to be a pretty large mountain lion."

"What do you think, Ryder?"

"I don't know. We usually get cats and dogs at the vet, but nothing that vicious."

"Never had to deal with a rabid dog?"

Ryder nods his head. "Oh. I grew up with a lot of dogs. I saw one dog get rabies from a bat. It was transferred into a bat. You know, people think that a rabid dog just suddenly goes mad. It's a lot more gradual. First stage is subtle changes in behavior. They're restless, morose. It's the second stage that people know, the furious stage. That's when they attack. And we're talking about any moving object. Did you know that a caged rabid dog will break its own teeth, trying to chew through the bars? It'll even rear back and snap its own spine. Can you imagine the amount of force it would take to do that? It's completely character reversal. This harmless animal...turned into a perfectly vicious killer. And it all started with that one bite."

"But it died, didn't it?" Jade asked, slightly annoyed.

"Yes, because your grandfather shot it." Mrs. West answers.

"He shot it because he wanted to put it out of its misery."

"He shot it because it was too dangerous." Mr. West corrects. "Something that out of control is better off dead."

**[Animal Clinic]**

Robbie opens the doors to the emergency room and Derek holds onto him, half-passed out and looking even paler. "Well, okay. Okay." He slaps Derek's hand off and Derek goes to the table as Robbie turns on the light. "You know, that really doesn't look like anything some Echinacea and a good night sleep couldn't take care of." Robbie points out.

"When the infection reaches my heart, it could kill me." Derek explains. He walks to a cabinet and opens it then closes it, not finding anything.

"Positivity" just isn't in your vocabulary, isn't it?"

"If he doesn't get here with the bullet in time..." Derek opens a drawer. "There's a last resort."

"Which is?" Derek takes out a saw.

"You're gonna cut off my arm." Robbie gags a little.

**[Jade's House]**

Ryder is ready to leave and Jade comes back downstairs, carrying his backpack. "I'm so incredibly sorry." She apologizes for her family's behavior.

"For what...?" Ryder asks as they walk to the door.

"For that being the worst, most horribly awkward dinner ever in the history of horribly awkward dinners."

"No. Uh, it wasn't the worst. There was this one dinner where my parents told me they were getting a divorce." Ryder informs her. "This comes close in at close in a second." Jade just smiles and pulls Ryder in for a kiss.

"Your dad's watching." Ryder whispers.

"Good." They kiss and then pull away. Ryder is about to walk out when Kate stops them.

"Wait a second, guys."

"What is it?" Jade asks.

"Uh, I have to ask Ryder something."

"Me?"

"Yeah, you." Kate closes the door.

"Uh..." Kate chuckles. "What'd you take from my bag?"

"What?"

"My bag; what'd you take from it?"

"What's going on?" Jade's dad asks, walking in.

There is a long pause. "Do you need me to repeat the question, maybe enunciate more clearly?"

Mr. West asks, "What are you talking about?"

"My bag was open in the guest room, and when I left it was shut. And Ryder comes in to use the bathroom, he leaves, my bag's open."

"He didn't take anything..." Jade protested, trading glances between her dad, Ryder and Kate.

"Something was taken from my bag. Now, look...I hate to be the accuser here, Ryder, because I really do love those adorable blue eyes, but I don't know if you're a klepto, if you're curious," Kate laughs. "Or if you're just stupid. But answer the question. What did you take?"

"I didn't take anything. I swear."

"You don't mind proving it, do you?"

"Are you serious?" Jade asks.

"How about you show us what's in your pockets?"

"Dad...?"

"Come on, Ryder. Prove me wrong."

"Uh, I'll prove you wrong. Uh, it wasn't Ryder going through your bags. It was me." Jade takes the blame.

"You...?"

"Yep, it was me." Jade then pulls out a condom from her pocket. Beck looks at what's in her hand. His eyes widen. He leaves the house and jumps on his bike. He laughs a little bit as he heads to the vet.

_**[Animal Clinic]**_

Derek hands the saw to Robbie. The saw buzzes.

"Oh my god...!" Robbie groans, looking away. "What if you bleed to death?"

"It'll heal if it works." Derek says as he ties a blue rubber band around his arm over the bullet wound.

"Ugh. Look...I don't know if I can do this."

"Why not...?"

"Well, because of the cutting through the flesh, the sawing of the bone, and especially the blood!" Robbie shouts out the reasons.

"You faint at the sight of blood?"

"No but I might at the sight of a chopped off arm!" Robbie shouts. Derek sighs.

"Alright, fine. How about this? Either you cut off my arm, or I'm gonna cut off your head." Derek threatens.

"Okay, you know what; I'm so not buying your threats any..." Derek cuts him off by taking him by the shirt and buzzing the saw.

"Oh my god, okay, alright, bought, sold. Fine, I'll do it." Derek doesn't respond. He turns his head away from He lets go of Robbie and turns only to vomit a black liquid. "Holy God, what the hell is that?"

"It's my body trying to heal itself."

"Well it's not doing a very good job of it."

"Now, you gotta do it now."

"Look, honestly, I don't think I can."

"Just do it!" Derek yells, startling Robbie.

"Oh, my god...! Okay, okay." Robbie picks up the saw and puts the edge above Derek's bullet wound. Before he has to cut his arm off, he hears Ryder call Robbie's name.

"Ryder?" Ryder runs in, panting. He sees what Robbie is about to do.

"What the hell are you doing?"

Robbie chuckles in relief. "Oh, you just prevented a lifetime of nightmares."

"Did you get it?" Derek asks. Ryder takes it out of his pocket and hands it to Ryder. Ryder stands up but loses conscious and faints which causes him to drop the bullet. Ryder tries to catch the bullet but it goes into the vent. Robbie rushes to Derek's aid.

Ryder puts his hands through the cracks and tries to get it. "Derek." Robbie says as he tries to wake him up. "Derek, come on, wake up. Ryder, what the hell are we gonna do?"

"I don't know!" Ryder shouts as he tries to get the bullet. "I can't reach it."

"He's not waking up!"

Ryder sighs. "Come on."

"I think he's dying! I think he's dead!"

"Just hold on!"

Ryder makes his werewolf claws grow out.

"Please don't kill me for this!" Robbie says then punches Derek in the face. Ryder is able to get the bullet fully out

"Ugh! Ow! God...!" Robbie winces at the pain.

"Give me..." Derek says and gets up. He pours the powder onto the table a gathers it all in the palm of his hand. He sticks all of it in the wound and falls, screaming and wincing at the pain of it healing. The wound disappears and Derek gets his color back.

"That...was...awesome!" Robbie shouted. "Yes!"

"Are you okay?" Ryder asks as Derek sits up.

"Well, except for the agonizing pain."

"I'm guessing the ability to use sarcasm is a good sign of health." Robbie says. Derek gets up and glares at Robbie.

"Okay, we saved your life." Ryder continues. "Which means you're gonna leave us alone, you got that? And if you don't, I'll go back to Jade's dad, and I'm gonna tell him everything..."

"You're gonna trust them?" Derek cuts Ryder off. "You think they can help you?"

"Well, why not? They're a lot freaking nicer than you are."

"I can show you exactly how nice they are."

"What do you mean?"

**[Los Angeles Crossing Home]**

Ryder and Derek arrive at Los Angeles Crossing Home. "What are we doing here?" Ryder asked as they got out of the car and started heading toward the building.

He leads Ryder to a dark room and Ryder sees a man with hair on the sides and the back of his head, sitting in a chair, not moving or talking.

"Who is he?" Ryder asks as Derek stares at the man.

"My Uncle Peter Hale..."

"Is he...like you, a werewolf?"

"He was. Now he's barely even human. Six years ago, my sister and I were at school, and our house caught on fire. Eleven people were trapped inside. He was the only survivor."

"So, what makes you sure that they set the fire?"

"Cause they're the only ones that knew about us."

"Well, then...they had a reason."

"Like what? You tell me what justifies this." Derek turns Peter's chair around and scares on half his face appear. Ryder's eyes widen. "They say they'll only kill an adult, and only with absolute proof, but there were people in my family that were perfectly ordinary in that fire. This is what they do. And it's what Jade will do."

"What are you doing?" A female voice booms. "How did you get in here?"

"We were just leaving." Derek walks off and drags Ryder, knowing that he'll keep staring.

**[Jade's House]**

Jade quietly walks out of the house, phone on her ear. "Hey. Um...I just thought maybe I'd catch you before you went to sleep, but, uh...I wanted to say sorry again for tonight. So...call me." Jade ends the voicemail and starts walking back when she steps on some glass. She looks up and sees Kate's window. She walks toward it and sees a shard of glass. She picks it up and analyzes it. She then holds it in her hand, bouncing it up and down as she walks back inside.

In the living room, Kate and Chris are talking. "The one that attacked me was big. It had width and power, but the one I shot was lean and fast."

"Well, that would be Derek Hale."

"Are you sure?"

"Mostly."

"Well, how do we know it's just two of them?"

"We don't yet. But if Derek's still alive, he will lead us to the Alpha." Kate starts making a fire in the fire place.

"Take the pack leader, and take the pack."

"We do it according to the code."

Kate scoffs. "You and the code."

"It's there for a reason, Kate."

"Of course." Kate lights a match and throws it into the fire place. "I always play by the rules."


	8. The Tell

**A/N: So, I got some reviews saying that I kept switching from Ryder and Jade to Tori and Beck or something like that and I had accidentally titled "Ryder's Room" as Beck's room. I have gone in and changed that, so it's all good. **

Chapter 8 - The Tell

The Alpha is in the video store, watching the clerk fix a light while a horror movie is playing. Outside, Cat and Andre pull up to the VIDEO 2C.

"Now, Hoosiers is not only the best basketball movie ever. It's the best sports movie ever made."

"No." Cat denies. She didn't want to be watching sports movies. She was not interested.

"It's got Gene Hackman and Dennis Hopper."

"No."

"Cat, I swear you're gonna like it."

"No."

"I am not watching The Notebook again!" Andre shouts out of frustration. Cat just gives him a look and he gives up. He goes inside and tries finding the movie that he doesn't want to watch.

"Can somebody find The Scissoring?" Andre asks as the store phone rings. "Hello?" Nobody answers. He looks around to see no one in here. "Is anybody working here?"

"You've got to be kidding me." Andre whispers to himself and walks down a few passageways. He sees a foot on the peeking out from one of the aisles. Out of curiosity, he walks over to see the store clerk lying on the floor, dead with his throat ripped out. He walks backwards in fear and the ladder falls down, and the light buzzes.

Cat doesn't notice as she takes pictures of herself.

Andre breaths heavily as he gets up. He hears low growling and turns around to see a figure with red eyes, crouching to the ground, staring at Andre. He gasps and hides behind an aisle. He looks to see nothing there. The figure rushes by and growls louder.

Shelves bang as the fall on one another. Andre jumps out and lies on the floor, not being able to get fully out. He groans as the shelf crushes his legs. The alpha comes towards him but does nothing except look at the scratches from Derek. The Alpha jumps through the window, making Cat scream very loudly.

**[Cop Car]**

Sheriff Shapiro and Robbie are eating outside the police station in his car. "Mmm. Did they forget my curly fries?" Sheriff Shapiro asks as he takes a bite of his burger.

"You're not supposed to eat fries, especially the curly ones." Robbie digs through the bag.

"Well, I'm carrying a lethal weapon. If I want the curly fries, I will have the curly fries."

"If you think getting rid of contractions in all your sentences makes your argument any more legitimate, you are wrong." Robbie says as he grabs his drink and starts drinking but when his police radio beeps, he tries not to poke himself while he gets it out of his mouth.

"Unit one, do you copy?" Robbie is about to copy it but Sheriff Shapiro slaps his hand away and clears his throat, giving him a stern look.

"Sorry." Robbie apologizes and goes back to finding his meal.

"Unit one, copy." Sheriff says into the walkie talkie.

"I got a report a possible 187."

"A murder...?" Robbie asks his mouth full of curly fries.

**[VIDEO 2C]**

Siren wails as Robbie and Sheriff pull up the video store to see Andre standing up beside Cat who is sitting on the edge of the ambulance. "Stay here." Sheriff orders, knowing his son that he was about to get out.

"Why the hell can't I just go home?" Andre asks the doctor as Cat takes his hand. "I'm fine." Sheriff walks up to the crime scene and heads to Andre and Cat.

"I hear you, but the EMT says you hit your head pretty hard. They just wanna make sure you don't have a concussion."

"What part of "I'm fine" are you having a problem grasping? Okay, I wanna go home."

"And I understand that."

"No, you don't understand, which kind of blows my mind since it should be a pretty basic concept to grasp for a minimum-wage-rent-a-cop like you!" Andre shouts as Robbie sneaks out of the car. "Okay, now I wanna go home!"

"Oh, wow, dad, is that a dead body?" Robbie loudly asks and Sheriff looks at the gurney and then turns back to Robbie with a glare.

"Everybody, back up."

Ryder and Derek are on top of the building, watching the crime scene. "Starting to get it?" Derek asked, taking a glance at Ryder.

"Uh, I get that he's killing people, but I don't get why." Ryder states his confusion. "I mean, this isn't standard practice, right? We don't go out in the middle of the night murdering everyone, do we?"

"No. We're predators. We don't have to be killers."

"Then why is he a killer?"

"That's what we're gonna find out." Derek speaks then walks away. Ryder turns behind him and starts following him, suggesting that Derek decided it was time to leave.

The top then starts to glow a red spiral.

**[Derek's House]**

"You know, I have a life, too." Ryder says as they walk into Derek's house. Derek then starts walking up the stairs.

"No, you don't."

"Yes, I do!" Ryder shouts. "I don't care what you say about him making me his pet or..."

"He wants you to be a part of his pack." Derek interrupts.

"Whatever. I have homework to do. I have to go to a parent/teacher conference tomorrow because I'm failing chemistry."

"You wanna do homework?" Derek asks. "Or do you wanna not die?" Ryder sighs. "You have less than a week until the full moon. You don't kill with him, he kills you."

"Okay, seriously, who made up these rules?"

"It's a rite of passage into his pack."

"You know what else a rite of passage is?" Ryder asks. "It's graduating from high school." Ryder shouts. "And you don't have to kill anyone to do it. Why can't you just find him yourself? Why can't you just sniff him out when he's a human?"

"I can't because his human scent could be entirely different. It has to be you. You have a connection with him, a link that you can't understand. If I can teach you to control your abilities, you can find him."

"So if I help, you can stop him?"

"Not alone."

"We're stronger in numbers. A pack makes the individual more powerful."

"How am I supposed to help if I have no idea what I'm doing?"

"Because I'm gonna teach you. Do you remember what happened that first night you were shot in the arm? Right after you were hit?"

"Yeah, I changed back."

"Yep and when you were hit by his car, same thing, right?" Ryder nodded as Derek walked closer to him. "What's the common denominator?"

Derek takes Ryder's hands and pulls his fingers back. Ryder groans.

"What is...what the hell are you doing?"

"It'll heal."

"Ugh! It's still hurt!"

"And that's what keeps you human; pain. Maybe you will survive." Ryder turns and starts walking up the steps some more. Ryder glares at him.

**[Jade's Room]**

The next morning, Jade is gathering up her books and putting them in her bag. She puts her bag over her shoulder and her Aunt comes in after she knocks.

"Hey. Listen, you know how I feel totally horrible about my behavior the other night, right?"

"Oh, totally forgotten."

"No, not forgotten by me." Kate says. "Come one. Call me a "horrid bitch" or something."

"You were just...being protective."

"I was being a protective horrid bitch...who is...giving you your birthday present early so you'll forgive her." Kate pulls out a box from her back. They both giggle and Jade opens the box to see an amulet. "Forgiven?"

"You're forgiven completely. I love it." says Jade as she takes the amulet out of the box.

"It's a family heirloom. And you know me, I hate and loathe all sentimental crap, but that...well the symbol is similar in the middle of the pendant. See that?"

"Yeah..."

"You ever wanna learn a little something about your family...look it up."

"You're gonna make me work for it."

"Some mysteries," Kate puts the heirloom around Jade's neck. "...are worth the effort."

They both laugh and they embrace each other in a hug. Jade leaves to go to school.

**[School]**

Jade walks down the hall to her locker. She opens it to be greeted by balloons. "Jesus." She mutters as she tries to put them back in her locker. She finds a card on the side and grabs it. She quickly reads it. "Cat." She whispers.

"Is today your birthday?" Ryder asks when he comes over to see Jade holding the card and the balloons peeking out.

"No, no, uh, no," Jade puts the balloons back in her locker. "I mean, yes. Please don't tell anybody. I don't even know how Cat found out."

"Why wouldn't you tell me?"

"I don't want people to know, because...I'm 17." Jade admits.

"Your 17...?"

"That's the reaction I'm trying to avoid."

"Why?" Ryder asks. "I mean, I totally get it. Uh, you had to repeat a year because of all the moving around, right?" Jade looks at him, walks up to him. She then kisses him and pulls away to see Ryder smiling. "What was that for?"

"For...literally being the first person to ever make the correct assumption. Everybody's all like "What...did you get held back?" "Did you ride the short bus?" Uh, "Did you have a baby?"

"That's what you hear on your birthday?"

"Oh, yeah, all day long."

Ryder sighs, feeling bad for Jade. "Then...what if we get out of here?"

"Skip class?"

"Yeah, skip for the whole day."

"Well, you're asking someone who's never skipped one class to bail out the entire day, and I don't..." Jade walks back to her locker and opens it.

"If you get caught, then they'll go easy on you."

"Well what if you get caught?" Jade crosses her arms over her chest and walks toward him after closing her door.

"Let's...try not to think about that." Ryder says as he leads Jade to the door.

**[Chemistry Class]**

Adrian Harris is talking. "This is just a friendly reminder that parent/teacher conferences are tonight. Students below a "C" average are required to attend. I won't name you because the shame and self-disgust should be more than enough punishment." He walks beside desks till he reaches Robbie's. He looks at Robbie to see him coloring on a sheet of paper with a highlighter.

"Has anyone seen Ryder Daniels?"

The door clicks open and shuts as Andre comes in. Mr. Harris walks to Andre and puts his hand on Andre's back. "Hey, Andre, if you need to leave early for any reason, let me know." After saying that, he walks to the board as he orders something. "Everyone, start reading chapter nine. Mr. Shapiro, try putting the highlighter down between paragraphs. It's chemistry, not a coloring book." Robbie spits the cap out and catches it in his hand when it goes to his side.

He looks at Danny and starts talking in a whisper. "Hey, Danny, can I ask you a question?"

"No."

"Well, I'm going to anyway. Um, did Cat show up in your homeroom yesterday?"

Danny sighs, not wanting to answer the question. "No."

"Can I ask you another question?"

"Answer's still no."

"Does anyone know what happened to her and Andre last night?"

"He wouldn't tell me."

"But he's your best friend."

"One more question." Danny was getting stressed.

"What?"

"Do you find me attractive?" Robbie falls out of his seat, making a clattering sound.

**[Jade's Car]**

Jade and Ryder run to her car and they get in. Jade has second thoughts about them, seeing adults around makes her think that they'll see them ditching school. "Uh, maybe this is a bad idea. And my dad would kill me if he found out." Jade gets in the car as Ryder puts on his seatbelt.

"Do you always follow your dad's rules?"

"Not lately." Jade laughs.

"Good. Start the car."

Ryder looks in the review mirror to see a cop car pulling up. "Where should we go?"

"Uh, I don't know, somewhere, anywhere."

"Nowhere I can be seen, right, because I could get detention."

"Can you please start the car now?"

"Or we could get suspended."

"Jade, start the car now." Jade starts the car and pulls out.

**[Locker Room]**

Andre turns the water off at the sink and pats his face. He inhales sharply when he touches the claw marks on the back of his neck. The locker is empty once the door slams shut. Andre opens his locker and sprays on cologne. Two red eyes appear and Andre backs away. He then realizes it's a student that has red ear buds on. He then looks over to his side to see Derek.

"Whoa, whoa," He gasps as he slams onto a locker. "I don't know where Ryder is."

"I'm not here for Ryder; I'm here for you." Derek walks toward him.

"Why me...? I didn't do anything."

"No, but you saw something, didn't you?"

"No, I didn't...I didn't see anything."

"What was it, an animal, a mountain lion?"

"I didn't see anything." Andre stammers. "I swear. I'm not lying."

"Then calm down and say it again."

"Say what? That I'm not lying?"

"Tell me that you didn't see anything! Say it slowly." Derek gets closer to him.

"I-I-I didn't see anything. I-I'm not lying."

"One more thing," Derek grabs his head and turns it so he can see the scratches. "You might want to get that checked out." Derek suggests before leaving.

_**[Hallway]**_

Robbie walks out of the classroom, cellphone on his ear as he tries to reach Ryder.

"_What?" _He hears Ryder pick up.

"Finally...! Have you been getting any of my texts?"

"_Yeah, like all 9 million of them." _

"Do you have any idea what's going on? Cat is totally M.I.A, Andre looks like he's got a time bomb inserted into his face, another random guy's dead, and you have to do something about it."

"_Like what?" _

"Something..."

_**[Jade's Car]**_

"Okay, I'll deal with it later." Ryder stammers. "Left, left, left, left." He directs Jade. She puts her hand on his chest as she swerves into the forest.

"Sorry, sorry." Jade apologizes. "I just totally soccer-mom'd you. I'm sorry."

"That's alright. I'll just pick up my masculinity on the way back."

Jade and Ryder walk through the woods and Jade looks down at her phone. "You're still not okay with this, are you?" Ryder asks.

"I just feel like I need an alibi."

"Well, if we get caught, I'll just say it was my fault."

"You don't need to take the blame for me. It was my choice too."

"Oh, good, because if we get caught, I'm totally gonna blame you." He teases.

Jade gasps and looks at him. "Oh, really...?"

"Hell yeah...! And they'd believe me. You know, totally beautiful girl asks you to skip the day with her. Like I'm gonna say no."

"So throw me under the bus, just like that?"

"Yeah, throw, push, shove..."

"And what if I decide to drag you down with me?" Jade asks, grabbing his jacket and turns in front of him.

"I'd just yell for help."

"Well, what if I did this?" Jade puts her pink colored lips on his and kissed him.

"I'd scream for help."

Jade kissed him again as he leaned against a tree.

"I'd beg for mercy." She pulls away and they put their foreheads on each other. She chuckles and kisses him again.

**[Cat's Room]**

Cat is on her bed, looking at her pink painted nails when there is a knock at the door. "Honey, there's a Robbie here to see you." Cat's mom says as she walks in. Robbie follows.

"What the hell is a "Robbie"?" Robbie makes an offended face.

"She took a little something to ease her nerves. You can...you can go in."

"Thanks." Robbie walks in as Mrs. Valentine closes the door behind him. Valentine turns and looks at him.

"What are you doing here?"

"I was just making sure you were okay."

Cat sits up and licks her lips. "Why?" She pats a spot so Robbie could sit down.

"Uh..." He chuckles and sits down.

"I was worried about you today. How are you feeling?" Because of her medicine acting up, she puts her arm on his shoulder.

"I feel..." She looks at him. "Fantastic." Robbie chuckles.

"Oh!" He sees a pill bottle on her night stand and grabs it. "I bet you can't say, uh, "I saw Suzy sitting in a shoeshine shop" ten times fast."

Cat gives him a competitive look. "I saw Shuzy..."

"Uh..."

"I shaw..." Cat then gets lost in space, remembering what happened the other night. She falls on the bed and looks at the wall. "I saw..."

"What? Cat, what did you see?"

"I saw something."

"Something like...like a mountain lion?"

"I saw a mountain lion."

"Are you sure you saw a mountain lion or are you just saying that because that's what the police told you?"

"A mountain lion..." Cat repeats.

Robbie grabs her stuffed giraffe and holds it up. "What's this?" Robbie asks and Cat turns to him.

"A mountain lion..."

"Okay. You're so drunk." Cat lays her head on his thigh.

"Oh, my..." Robbie gasps.

**[Forest]**

Ryder helps Jade up a hill and she almost falls backwards from falling in a hole. Ryder catches her before she can tumble. "Oh! Are you okay?"

"Yeah," Jade says laughing. "I think you just earned your masculinity back."

She snatches out her phone and looks at it. "What are you doing?" Ryder questioned.

"I'm just texting Cat "thank you for the birthday stuff"."

"No. If mine's off, then yours is, too."

"So we're disconnecting from the world?"

"You can handle that from one day, right?"

"Uh, just this one text, and then I will be all yours, okay?" Jade grabs the phone from Ryder's hand and texts Cat. "Okay." She says and closes her phone. She looks at Ryder and he's smiling.

_**[Cat's Room]**_

"Well, I'm gonna...go." Robbie announced as he stood at the door. "Uh, I'll let you get back to the whole post-traumatic stress thing." Robbie almost closes the door but stops when he hears a soft "stay" from Cat.

"Me? Stay? You want me to stay?" He walks to her bed and sits down.

Cat sits up and looks at him. "Mmm-hmm, yes, please. Stay." She rubs his face and then says, "Andre."

"And..." Robbie drags as Cat sleepily plops onto the bed. "We're done here."

Cat's phone beeps and Robbie looks to see it on her night stand.

"You want me to get that?" Robbie asks a sleeping Cat.

"It's a text." He says when he grabs a phone. "I don't know how to..." He then realizes it's a recording of the alpha jumping out of the window Cat caught by accident.

**[Hale House]**

Kate and two guys walk up to the Hale house with Ulrich and Leveque. "He wants us to wait." Ulrich states as he holds a gun up to the house.

"So I've been reminded..." Kate responds and looks at him. "...To death."

"And that means we're not allowed to kill him." Leveque tells her.

Kate then smirks evilly. "But that doesn't mean we can't say hello." The rifle cocks as they start walking toward the house. Kate kicks open the door and they go in.

"No one's home." Leveque points out.

"Oh, he's here. He's just not feeling particularly hospitable."

"Maybe he's burying a bone in the backyard." Ulrich jokes then Leveque and Kate look at him.

"Really, a dog joke? We're going there, and that's the best you got? If you wanna provoke him, say something like, "Too bad your sister "bit it" before she had her first litter. Too bad she howled like a bitch when we cut in half!" Kate shouts as she walks into the living room. Growling erupts and Derek shows up in werewolf form, growling as long as he could.

Derek grabs the railing to the door and pushes Ulrich and Leveque to the floor, leaving Kate all on her own. Derek growls as Kate gets out her weapon. Electricity crackles as Derek jumps and the weapon connects to his body.

"Wow. This one grew up in all the right places." Kate taunts as she circles Derek. "I don't know where to kill it or...lick it."

**[Robbie's Room]**

"Hey, it's me again. Look, I found something, I don't know what to do, okay? So if you could turn your phone on right now, that'd be great. Or else I'll kill you." Robbie left Ryder a voicemail as he paced around his room. "Do you understand me? I'm gonna kill you. And I'm too upset to come up with a witty description about how exactly I'm gonna kill you, but I'm just gonna do It, okay? I'm gonna..." Robbie realizes the phone got cut off. "Ugh! Goodbye."

He throws his phone onto his bed and sighs as he sits down on his chair and outs his head on his arms when there's a sudden knock at the door. He gasps as he looks up to see his dad.

"Please tell me I'm gonna hear good news at this parent/teacher thing tonight."

"Depends on how you define "good news"." Robbie tells him.

"I define it as you getting straight A's with no behavioral issues."

"You might wanna rethink that definition." Robbie responded as he picked at an eraser.

"Enough said." Sheriff walked away. He grabs Cat's phone and plays the recording once again.

"Come on, Ryder. Where the hell are you?" Robbie whispers.

**[Forest]**

Ryder and Jade walk down the path holding hands. They walk across the pond and step on the rocks in order to get to the other side.

Ryder almost falls but Jade catches him, laughing as she holds him close. Jade walks a little further before stepping into the water. As she sits beside Ryder, they kiss. They walk along a bridge and when Ryder gets a little bit ahead of her, she runs after him and jumps on top of him.

**[Robbie's Room]**

Robbie impatiently waits for Ryder and grabs Cat's phone. He sees the video at pause on the Alpha's face. He then presses the 'delete' button.

_**[Hale House]**_

Kate keeps zapping the weapon as Derek tries to get up. She keeps a slow pace behind him, following his every move. He leans onto a chair and lunges toward Kate but she buzzes her weapon and puts it on him which makes him fall and roll over to the stairs. Kate laughs and walks toward him.

"Oh. 900,000 volts." Kate sighs and looks at a helpless and weak Derek trying to sit up. He finally is able to sit up and lean against the door. "You never were good with electricity, were you?" Kate asked. "Or fire." She chuckles. "Which is why I'm gonna let you in on a little secret. And, well, maybe we can help each other out. Yes, your sister was severed into pieces and used as bait to try to catch you. Unpleasant and frankly, a little too Texas Chainsaw Massacre for my taste, but quite true..." Kate chuckles as she sits in front of Derek. "Now, here's the part that might really kick you in your balls...we didn't kill her."

By the look Derek his giving her, Kate can tell he doesn't believe her. Heck, who could believe Kate? For all these years, she's been lying and lying. "You think I'm lying?"

"It wouldn't be the first time." Derek states.

"Tsk, sweetie...Well..." Kate gets up and walks toward him. She kneels in front him. "Why don't you just listen to my heart and tell me if I am. Okay? We..." Kate leans in closer. "...Didn't...Kill...Your...Sister." Her heart beats steadily, meaning she wasn't lying. "Do you hear that? There are no blips or upticks. Just the steady beat of the cold, hard truth." Kate gets up and walks away. She then turns back to him.

"Found bite marks on your sister's body, Derek. What do you think did that? Something like a mountain lion?" Kate clicks her weapon closed. "Why aren't we helping each other out? You might as well admit what you've been guessing all along, which is... that the alpha killed your sister. And all you have to do is tell us who he is, and we'll take care of it for you. Problem solved, and everybody goes home happy."

"Unless..." Kate continues. "You don't know who he is either."

Kate starts laughing. "Wow. Guess who just became totally useless?"

Before gunfire starts, Derek runs out of the house quickly.

_**[Animal Clinic]**_

Dogs bark as Dr. Deaton walks out of the room. "Hey, Ryder, it's me again. I'm just calling to make sure that everything's okay. You were supposed to be here an hour ago. Maybe you forgot. Well, whatever it is, just give me a call and let me know that everything's okay. All right, thanks." The doorbell jingles as Dr. Deaton ends the call. Sheriff appears behind him.

"Sheriff Shapiro." Dr. Deaton saw his reflection in the glass.

"Listen, I hate to bother you, but, uh, I'm having a bitch of a time getting a consensus on what this is we're dealing with."

"I'm really flattered you've come to me for help, but like I said before, I'm no expert."

"But you were pretty certain the other day about our attacker being a mountain lion."

"That's right."

"I wanna show you something." Sheriff put the file on the table and took some pictures out. "We got pretty lucky here. Uh, the video store didn't have any cameras, but a security camera that was watching another parking lot happen to grab a few frames. Take a look at our mountain lion."

In one of the pictures showed the alpha about to jump through the window. "Here's another." The alpha was running away in another picture.

"It's interesting."

"Actually, uh, this is the interesting one." The last picture didn't show the alpha but showed a man walking on two legs in human form.

"I see what you mean."

"I've never seen a mountain lion do that."

"I can't say I have either. You've got a problem here."

"My first instinct was it was a bear, but bears don't walk on two legs."

"No, they drop to all fours." Dr. Deaton looks at the dogs as they bark. He then turns his attention to Sheriff Shapiro. "Look, like I said, you really need an expert here."

"Yeah, yeah, but could this still be a mountain lion...?"

"I'm sorry. I've got a sick Doberman hat that needs my attention." Dr. Deaton starts walking to the dogs.

"No other ideas?"

"I'm sorry. Really, I wish I could help you, but I've got a sick..."

"Yeah; dog; I heard you." Sheriff pauses. "Thanks for humoring me again."

_**[Forest]**_

Ryder and Jade quickly run to Jade's car. Jade unlocks the door and gets in. Ryder gets in and buckles himself. She chuckles as she starts the car. "So, being completely honest, this was..." She looks for the right words. "This was kind of a perfect birthday."

"Good. I'd know if you were lying anyway."

"Oh really..."

"You have a tell." Ryder responds her. "You touch your eyebrow right here." Ryder strokes Jade's eyebrow and she chuckles.

"Let's see if you can figure out if I'm lying now. Uh..." She grabs his hand. "I wish that my parents weren't coming home from the teacher conferences so...I could spend the rest of the day with you."

"The rest of the day...?"

"Well, for the rest of the night." Jade corrects herself.

Ryder smiles a bit then remembers the parent/teacher conference. "Oh god," He lowers. "The parent/teacher conferences; I'm supposed to be there. Ugh, I'm below "C" on, like, everything."

"Well, they're going on now." states Jade. "Like right now."

_**[Chemistry Class]**_

"Andre's a highly motivated student." Adrian tells his adoptive parents. "In fact, I'd describe him as "unusually driven."

"Yeah, we were hoping he might ease up on himself a little."

Andre is on the field, drinking. He drops the beer and picks up his lacrosse stick.

"_He's always been real hard on himself. It's just, you know, something we assumed was an effect of him being adopted." _

"_I think I understand. He's never met his biological parents." _

"_Yeah, that's right. It's the need to please, the overachieving, and the desire to make someone proud...someone he's never even met." _

Andre throws the ball against the tree but meant for it to land in the little bowl on the tree.

"_Something certainly seems to have recalibrated, his desire for achievement several notches higher. Not to be too blunt about it, but he seems almost obsessed._

_**[Classroom]**_

"Let me tell you, there's plenty to say about Cat." The teacher speaks.

Mr. Valentine laughs and looks at Mrs. Valentine, his ex-wife. "Did I not predict this?"

"Here we go; total nuclear meltdown as usual."

"What is it?" Mr. Valentine asks. "Is it her grades, here concentration issues, erratic behavior?" He picks up a fight.

"I'm not the one who told her she had to choose who she wants to live with, as if that wouldn't warp a 16 year old girl." Mrs. Valentine argues.

"Just tell us what the problem is."

"I wasn't aware that there was a problem." The teacher chuckles. "Academically, Cat's one of the finest students I've ever had."

Cat is at home, looking at the mirror seeing the mascara all shed. She puts some concealer under her eyes. She puts some blush on and curls her hair. She then puts some lip gloss on.

"_Her A.P classes push her GPA above a 5.0. I'd actually like to have her I.Q tested. And socially, she displays outstanding leadership qualities. I mean she's a real leader." _

**[Chemistry Class]**

"So, Robbie's a great kid."

_Robbie is on his bed, looking at some papers. _

"_Zero ability to focus. He's super smart. He never takes advantage of his talents."_

"_How do you mean?" _

"_Well, for his final question on his midterm exam, he detailed the entire history of the male circumcision._

"_Well, I mean it does have historical significance, right? I mean..." _

"_I teach economics." _

"_Ah, crap." Sheriff mutters._

_**[Chemistry Class - Later]**_

"Where the hell are you?" Melissa asks Ryder on her phone. "Get to the school now." She ends the call and looks at Mr. Harris.

"How about we get started?" Mr. Harris suggests.

"Sure."

"Lately Ryder's mind has been somewhere else, so has his body. Personally, I think it may have something to do with his home situation."

"Oh, well, personally, I'm not sure what you mean by "home situation"."

"Uh, specifically the lacks of an authority figure."

"Yeah, I'm the authority figure, so..."

Mr. Harris chuckles. "Sorry. Allow me to clarify. I mean the lack of a male authority figure."

"Oh. Well, trust me; we're much better off without him in the picture."

"Does Ryder feel the same way?"

"Yes. I think so. I hope so."

_**[Jade's Car]**_

Jade speeds down the road as Ryder looks out the window. Street lights matched with his eyes making it look like he was turning into a werewolf.

"_But he's going through some difficult changes. He just needs extra attention, a guiding hand through this crucial stage of his development. _

**[Classroom]**

"Jade West is an incredibly sweet girl, and she's quick to adjust, despite all the moving around."

"We know it's hard on her, but, uh, it's a necessary evil."

"Necessary or not, I'd be prepared for some..." The teacher sighs. "How do I put this?"

"Rebelliousness...?"

"We appreciate the concern," Mrs. West cuts Mr. West off and puts her hand on his arm. "But we have a great relationship with our daughter. It's very open and honest."

"I'm happy to hear that. And let her know that I hope she's feeling better."

"Oh, she wasn't in class?"

"Oh, she wasn't in school. I checked with the office."

_**[Outside School]**_

Jade and Ryder pull up to the school to see parents coming out of the school, ready to get home and relax for the rest of the night.

"Ryder, you need to call me right now." Ryder saw his mom calling him on her phone.

"Your mom...?" Jade asks as Ryder unbuckles himself and hides.

"Yeah, I'm dead. Ugh."

"Jade, answering your phone will make discussing the terms of your grounding much easier." Jade's dad left a message in her voicemail box. "Well, call me back before your punishment reaches biblical proportions."

"Kate hasn't heard from her either." Mrs. West informs him, catching up to him.

"She doesn't do this." By the time Mr. West finishes, Mrs. Daniels comes up to them.

"Excuse me; you're not Jade's parents are you? I'm Ryder's mom, and I hate to say it, but he's not answering his phone either."

"You're his mother?" Mr. West asked offensively.

"Funny how you say that like it's an accusation."

"Well, I wouldn't claim it as a source of pride since he basically kidnapped my daughter today." Mr. West spoke.

"Chris." Mrs. West tried to stop the fight from going any further.

"How do we know skipping school today wasn't your daughter's idea?"

"My daughter..." By the time Chris said that, a car door opened then shut. They see Ryder and Jade walking up to them. "...is right there."

Melissa and the West parents walk up to them, "Where exactly have you been?" Melissa asked with anger as she sped toward them.

"We've been nowhere, mom."

"Nowhere, meaning not at school."

"Kind of," Ryder confessed. Feeling bad for him, Jade decided to take the blame and defend him.

"It's not his fault. It's my birthday and we were..."

"Jade." Mr. West boomed as soon as he got to her. "Get in the car." Suddenly, a girl scream and a growl echoes. Everyone yells as they try to get away from the mysterious screaming cause. Ryder walks away; looking everywhere as Jade stays by her car. People rush to their car in fear as they try to get away. Ryder worries that it might be the Alpha or Derek. She walks away, looking around when a car comes hurdling toward her. She gasps and Ryder gets her out of the way in time.

"Are you okay?" Ryder asked, worried that he may not have gotten her away and her legs might've hit the car. "Alright."

"Move, Move!" Sheriff grabs his gun but his leg gets hit with a car. Mr. West goes to his car and grabs a gun. A gun bangs and the mysterious animal turned out to be a mountain lion.


	9. Heart Monitor

**A/N: Note the cliffhanger; it was an actual mountain lion, it wasn't the Alpha who people think is the mountain lion. **

**Guest: When will Tori and Beck appear?**

**My response: They'll appear soon; Beck - Omega, Tori - Ice Pick.**

Chapter 9 - Heart Monitor

Ryder walks into a car garage, carrying groceries. He tries to find his car when he walks in level four. He takes out his car keys and listens for his car beeping when he sees the milk bottle roll into a car, but when it reaches the other side, it rolls back over to him. He hears low growling and runs away from the car but the figure keeps following him.

Ryder jumps on top of the car and the alarms wail each time he gets on another car. He clutches his breath tight as he hides behind a car but is exposed when his phone rings. The werewolf grabs him and slams him on top of a car. The werewolf turns out to be Derek. "You're dead." Jason states.

"What the hell was that?" Ryder shouts in anger as they start walking down the garage.

"I said I was gonna teach you. I didn't say when."

"You scared the crap out of me."

"Not yet." Derek looks at him to see relief and fear in his eyes.

"Okay, but I was fast, right?" Ryder sighs.

"Not fast enough."

"But the car alarm thing, that was smart, right?" Ryder asked.

"It was until your phone rang."

"Yeah, but that was...I mean...would you just stop?" Ryder shouts as he stops following him. "Please? What happened the other night, Robbie's dad getting hurt that was my fault. I should've been there to do something. I need you to teach me how to control this."

"Look, I am what I am because of birth. You were bitten. Teaching someone who was bitten takes time. I don't even know if I can teach you."

"What do I have to do?"

"You have to get rid of distractions." Derek takes Ryder's phone and holds it up. "You see this? This is why I caught you." Ryder sees a missed call from Jade. "You want me to teach you? Get rid of her."

"What, just because of her family?" Derek throws the phone across the wall and it breaks into pieces.

"Are you getting angry? That's your first lesson. If you want to learn how to control this, how to shift, you do it through anger, by tapping into a primal animal rage, and you can't do that with her around." Jason shouts.

"I can get angry." Ryder glares at him.

"Not angry enough. This is the only way I can teach you. Now, can you stay away stay away from her? Could you do it until the full moon?

"If that's what it takes."

"Do you want to live? Do you want to protect your friends; Yes or no?"

"Yes. If you can teach me, I can stay away from her."

_**[Jade's House]**_

Ryder ends up thrown onto Jade's bed and she gets on top of him. She kisses him with passion and he strokes her back. When there is a knock at the door, Jade and Ryder freak out. "Just a second." Jade shouts as she hides Ryder in her closet.

"Jade." Kate is heard on the other side of the door.

"I'm coming!"

"Hey." Kate greets her. "What's up?"

"Uh, I'm not doing anything. I'm just doing homework and sending some e-mails." She walks to her desk and looks at her closet then her computer.

"Are you E-mailing the boyfriend?"

"No. I'm emailing PETA about how my pignut father gunned down an innocent mountain lion in a parking lot."

"And this doesn't have anything to do with the fact that you're grounded and can't see Ryder?"

"I'm not gonna be one of those whining teenagers who looks at her father and says "I hate you. I wish you we dead."

"But..."

"But...I hate him and I wish he was dead." Kate laughs.

"See, now you're starting to sound like a normal, angry teenager. What are you working on? Can I help?"

"Uh, a history project, and I just want to be left alone, actually."

"Come on. What kind of history project?"

"I have to come up with a report that has some relevance to my own family history."

"Is it anything specific to your family?"

"Why? Do you have any ideas?"

Kate nods and leans down next to her. "Type this in. "La bête du Gevaudan"."

"La bête du Gevaudan is the beast of Gevaudan." Jade translates. "What is this?"

"It's an old French legend that, believe it or not, has something to do with your family."

"In 1766 in a province of Luzerne, la bête killed over 100 people." Jade reads.

"Mysterious animal attacks, just like a certain town called Los Angeles."

"So what was it? What was the animal?"

"Nobody knows for sure but I can tell you one thing. It definitely wasn't a mountain lion. What does it look like to you?"

"It looks like...a wolf."

**[Outside Jade's House]**

Later, Ryder walks out of Jade's window and sits on the window. He looks back at her and she looks at him through the window with a smile. He jumps down waves as he goes to his car. While in the midst of walking, he senses presence behind him when there is rustling.

"Derek? I know I said I would stay away, but you broke my phone. I had to at least tell her why I wasn't answering." But Derek doesn't respond. All he hears is rustling between the bushes. "Derek?" Then there's a growl. He rushes to his car, breathing heavily. He is able to get in the car in time before the Alpha can confront him.

Just outside of the car, The Alpha draws a spiral onto the window.

**[Ryder's House]**

Ryder runs into his room and closes the door. He walks quickly to his window and closes it. He turns on to the light and screams when he sees Derek sitting in the chair.

"You seriously need to stop doing that!" Ryder grows frustrated.

"So what happened? Did he talk to you?"

"Yeah, we had a nice conversation about the weather." Ryder says with sarcasm. "No, he didn't talk!"

"Well, did you get anything out of him? Did you get an impression?"

"What do you mean?"

Derek stands up and walks to him. "Remember, your other senses our heightened. Communication doesn't have to be spoken. What kind of feeling did you get from him?"

"It was anger."

"Focused on you?"

"No, not me, but it was definitely anger. I could feel it; especially when he drew the spiral."

"Wait, what...what'd you just say he drew?"

"He drew this spiral on the window of my car, in the condensation, you know?" Derek doesn't answer. "What? You have this look like you know what it means."

"No, it's...it's nothing."

"Wait, wait, wait, wait a second." Ryder stops him and Derek turns around. "You can't do that. You can't ask me to trust you and then just keep things to yourself."

"It doesn't mean anything."

"You buried your sister under a spiral. What does it mean?"

"You don't want to know." Derek opens the door and walks out. Ryder sighs and lies on his bed.

"Stay away from Jade." Ryder chanted till he fell asleep.

_**[School]**_

Ryder walks down the hall, chanting the same thing. But he sees her coming down the other set of stairs and turns around after reaching the top of the stairs. "I must stay away from Jade. Just stay away from Jade." Ryder walks to a hallway and Andre walks out of a room. "Stay away from Andre. Just stay away from Andre." Cat is at her locker and turns to him.

"Hey, Ryder..." Cat greets him. He just turns around.

"Oh, come on!" Ryder shouts. Ryder walks in to Chemistry class to see Robbie giving him a nasty glare. Clearly, he is upset. Ryder sighed and walked over to his desk behind Robbie.

"Still not talking to me?" Ryder asks, leaning forward. Robbie ignores him and plays with his pencil. "Can you at least tell me if your dad's okay? I mean, it's just a bruise, right? Was it some soft tissue damage? Was it nothing that big?" Ryder sighs and looks down. He looks back up. "You know I feel really bad about it, right?" Robbie still doesn't answer. "Okay. What if I told you that I'm trying to figure this whole thing out, and...? That I went to Derek for help."

"If I was talking to you, I would say you're an idiot for trusting him." Robbie sighs. "But obviously I'm not talking to him."

The school bell rings and students come in. Robbie turns around and looks at him. "What did he say?"

_**[School Hallway]**_

After class, Ryder and Robbie walk out. "He wants you to tap into your animal side and get angry? Alright, well, correct me if I'm wrong, but every time you do that, you try to kill someone, and that someone's usually me."

"I know. That's what he means when he says he doesn't know if he can teach me. I have to be able to control it."

"Well, how's he gonna teach you to do that?"

"I don't know. I don't think he does either."

"Okay. When are you seeing him again?"

"He just told me not to talk about it, and to just act normal and get through the day."

"Wait, when?" Robbie slaps him on the chest.

"He's picking me up at the animal clinic after work."

"After work...alright, well, that gives me to the end of the school day then."

"Wait, to do what?"

"For me teach you myself."

_**[Cafeteria]**_

Jade and Cat are in the cafeteria. Jade is reading a book while Jade eats.

"What of whom?" Cat asks, clearly confused.

"It was the beast of Gevaudan. Listen," Jade looks at the page to read to Cat. "A quadruped wolf-like monster, prowling the Auvergne and South Dordogne areas of France during the year 1764 to 1767...La bête killed over 100 people, becoming so infamous that the King Louis XV sent one of his best hunters to try and kill it."

"This is boring!"

"Even the church eventually declared the monster a messenger of Satan."

"Hmmm, this is still boring."

"Cryptozoologists believe it may have been a subspecies of hoof predator, possibly me-son-y-chide."

"Slipping into a coma bored."

"While others believe it was a powerful sorcerer who could shape shift into a man eating monster."

"Any of this has anything to do with your family?"

"This." Jade then continues to read more. "It is believed that la bête was finally trapped and killed by a renowned hunter who claimed his wife and four children were the first to fall prey to the creature." Cat looks up to see a still-bored-and-unsure Cat. "His name was West."

"Your ancestors killed a big wolf; so what?"

"Not just a big wolf." Jade turns the page. "Take a look at this picture." She turns the book around and Cat's eyes widen at the picture. The picture shows a big shape figure with beady red eyes of the same wolf she saw a not long ago.

"Cat?" Jade questioned. "Cat."

Cat looks up at her and then puts on her tough girl act. "It looks...like a big...wolf." Cat puts on a smile and gets up. "See you in history." Cat picks up her tray and throws it in the trash can as she walks out.

At another table, Ryder is hiding his face in a book with it standing up. Robbie puts it down. "I think the book is making it more obvious." Robbie states and looks behind him to see Jade still reading. "Besides, she's reading anyway." Robbie turns back to him.

Ryder looks at him but still hides his face every once in a while. "So, did you come up with a plan yet?"

"I think so." Robbie takes a bite of his apple.

Ryder asks, "Does that mean you don't hate me now?"

"No. But your crap has infiltrated my life, so now I have to do something about it. Plus, I'm definitely a better Yoda than Derek."

"Okay, yeah, you teach me."

"Yeah, I'll be your Yoda."

"Yeah, you...be my Yoda."

"Your Yoda I will be." Robbie makes his voice a little higher and they both laugh. "I said it backwards."

"I know."

"Alright, you know what? I definitely still hate you. Uh-huh, oh yeah," Robbie answers the unsaid question he had. Robbie grabs the book, grabs his apple, grabs his backpack, and leaves. Ryder panics but it's too late. Jade looks up and sees him. Ryder grabs his backpack and follows Robbie.

"Ryder..." Jade closes her book and gets up to follow him. "Ryder, wait."

He runs into the boy's bathroom which stops Jade. She walks away, slightly embarrassed as Ryder sighs.

"This is not gonna be easy." Ryder mutters to himself.

**[Lacrosse Field]**

Ryder and Robbie walk onto the field. Robbie gets out some balls and a lacrosse stick. He sits on a bench and gets a black strap out.

"Okay. Now...put this on." He hands it to Ryder.

"Isn't this one of the heart rate monitors for the track team?" Ryder questioned as he grabbed the object.

"Yeah, I borrowed it."

"You stole it." Ryder corrected.

"Temporarily misappropriated; Coach expenditures it to monitor his heart rate with his phone while he jogs, and you're gonna wear it for the rest of the day."

"Isn't that Coaches phone?"

"That I stole."

"Why?"

"Alright, well, your heart rate goes up when you go wolf, right? Maybe learning to control it is tied to learning to control your heart rate."

"Like the incredible Hulk."

"Kind of like the Incredible Hulk, yeah."

"No, I'm like the Incredible Hulk."

"Would you shut up and put the strap on?"

Ryder tied the strap under his shirt and when he was done, they moved the things to the middle of the field. Ryder stands there with his arms behind his back as Robbie duct tapes them together.

"This isn't exactly how I wanted to spend my free period." Ryder turns to face him when he's down. He grabs the balls and lacrosse stick, and backs away.

"Alright, you ready?"

"No." But Ryder didn't have any choice.

"Remember, don't get angry."

"I'm starting to think this isn't a good idea." Ryder stated before Robbie started pelting him with balls. Ryder responded to each pelt with groans and cries.

In a distance, Andre was leaning against the bleachers as he watched with an entertained expression.

Ryder starts transforming and rips the duct tape apart. He puts his hands on the ground and breathes heavily as Robbie monitors the pulse.

"Ryder...? Ryder, you started to change."

"From anger, but it was more than that. It was like, the angrier I got, and the stronger I felt."

"So, it is anger then."

"Derek's right. I can't be around Jade."

"You can't be around her just because she makes you happy?"

"No. She makes me weak."

_**[Locker Room]**_

"Alright," Robbie starts as they walk in. "So you stay away from her for a few days. You can do that."

"But is it a few days, or is it forever?"

"You know this whole "women make you weak" thing is a little too Spartan warrior for me. It's probably just part of the learning process."

"Yeah, but you've seen Derek. I mean, the guy's totally alone. What if I can, like, never be around her again?"

"Well, if you're not dead, that could be a good thing."

"I'd rather be dead." Ryder mutters.

"You're not gonna end up like Derek, alright? We'll figure it out, okay. Come on. Let's get out of here."

"Something smells terrible in here anyway." Ryder says as he picks up his backpack and follows Robbie.

"It smells terrible in a boy's locker room? That doesn't make any sense at all."

"No. It's like something's rotting or dying."

As they walk away, Andre comes into the clearing as if he just seen a ghost. He tries to remain calm and catch his breath. He runs to a sink and puts his hands on it. He looks up into the mirror and grunts when he touches the marks on the back of his neck.

He starts twitching and unbuttons his shirt, and groans. He takes the pad off the marks. He looks at the blood on it and throws it down, trying not to throw up. In the midst of gagging, fingers with claws come out. Discovering it was just a hallucination; he sighs and hangs his head down.

_**[Hallway]**_

Andre walks down the hallway and sees Jade sitting down, eyes buried in the book.

"What are you reading?" Andre's deep voice makes her jump and look at him. She laughs and answers Andre's question as he sits down next to her after putting his backpack down.

"Oh, hey, uh...just stuff for history project. Did you have a free period, or..."

"No, I just don't like sitting through chem."

"Understandable." Jade scoffs as she looks at her book. After a moment, she looks back at him to see he's still there. "Did...did you want something?"

"Actually, yeah, I wanted to talk." Andre sighed. "I realized I've been a jerk to you, and especially to Ryder. And I wanted to say that I'm sorry." Jade didn't believe him. She sighed and gripped her book. "I'm serious."

"Okay, I...I believe you're being serious, but I'm not so sure you're being sincere."

Andre sighs as Jade returns to the book. "Do you know what it's like to be the best player on the team? What it's like to be the star? What it's like to have every single person at the game chanting your name?" Andre scoffs. "And then...some kid...Some kid just comes along and then everyone starts looking at him instead of you. Do you know what that feels like?"

"No, I don't."

"Well, it feels like something's been...It feels like something's been stolen from you. And then you start to feel like you'd do...anything; anything in the world to get it back."

"Haven't you ever learned there's no "I" in "team"?"

"Yeah, but there is a 'me'; that was a joke. Gosh." Andre chuckles and rubs the side of his neck. "You must really hate me."

"Not at all..."

"Are you sure? I'm not a bad guy. I mean, yeah, I make stupid mistakes, a lot, but...I'm not bad. I really like you; and Ryder. I mean, I really like you both, and I want you guys to like me. I want to get to know you guys better." Andre leans in, but Jade moves away. "So...what are you reading?"

_**[Class]**_

The school bell rings and the students walk to their desks. Jade walks in and when Ryder sees her walking to the desk behind him, he tells Robbie, "Hey, Robbie, sit behind me dude." Before Robbie has any time to move, Jade beats him there.

Ryder sits down and nervously sighs. Once Jade gets set, she leans forward and whispers. "Hey, I haven't seen you all day."

"Yeah, I've just been, uh, busy."

"When are you gonna get your phone fixed? I feel like I'm totally disconnected from you."

"Uh, I'll get it fixed soon; real soon."

Jade clears her throat and straightens her books before continuing the conversation. "I changed lab partners, by the way."

"Oh, who did you change lab partners to?"

"Well, to you, dummy."

"Me? Are you sure?"

"Yes. This way I have an excuse to bring you home and study.

"Oh."

"You..." Jade stutters. "You don't mind, do you?"

"I just...I don't wanna bring your grade down."

"Well, maybe I can bring your grade up." Next to her, an annoyed Robbie sits as he rolls his eyes. "Come to my place tonight. 8:30?"

"Tonight...?"

"At 8:30." Jade nods before Coach Finstock starts to teach.

"Let's settle down." Coach Finstock slams a book down on a pile with other books. "Let's start with a quick summary of last night's reading. Greenberg put your hand down. Everybody knows you did the reading. How about, uh," Coach Finstock looks at Ryder to see him lowering down. "Daniels."

"What?"

"...the reading."

"Last night's reading?"

"How about, uh, the reading of The Gettysburg Address." A few students start laughing.

"What?"

"That's sarcasm. Are you familiar with the term "sarcasm", Daniels?"

"Yeah," Ryder looks at Robbie, who smirks. "Very."

"Did you do the reading or not?"

"Um...I think I forgot."

"Nice work, Daniels. It's not like you're not averaging a "D" in this class. Come on, buddy. You know I can't keep you on the team if you have a "D"." The heart monitor starts beeping. Robbie panics as he watches it rises as Coach Finstock keeps torturing Ryder. When the monitor stops rising, he looks and sees Jade holding Ryder's hand behind him.

"Of course." Robbie mumbles.

**[Hallway]**

Robbie and Ryder walk out of class and Robbie strikes up a conversation. "It's her."

"What do you mean?" Ryder asks.

Robbie replies, "It's Jade. Remember what you told me on about the night of the full moon? You were thinking about her, right, about protecting her?

"Okay."

"Remember the night of the first lacrosse game? You said you could hear her voice out on the field."

"Yeah, I did."

"Well, so that's what brought you back so you could score. And then after the game in the locker room, you didn't kill her. At least not like how you were trying to kill me. She brings you back is what I'm saying."

"No, no, no, but it's not always true, because literally every time I'm kissing her or touching her..."

"No, that's not the same. When you're doing that, you're just another hormonal teenager thinking about sex, you know?" From the look Beck has on, Robbie knows that he's thinking of something. "You're thinking about sex right now, aren't you?"

"Yeah, sorry."

"That's fine. Look, back in the classroom when she was holding your hand that was different, okay? I don't think she makes you weak. I think she actually gives you control. She gives you an anchor."

"You mean because I love her."

"Exactly."

"Did I just say that?"

"Yes, you just said that.

"I love her."

"That's great. Now, moving on..."

"No, no, no, really..." Ryder cuts Robbie off. "I think I'm totally in love with her."

"And that's beautiful. Now, before you go off and write a sonnet, can we figure this out, please, because you obviously can't be around her all the time?"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, sorry," Ryder sighs. "So, what do I do?"

"I don't know, yet."

"Oh, no, you're getting an idea, are you?"

"Yes."

"Is this idea going to get me in trouble?"

"It probably is."

"Is this idea gonna give me physical pain?"

"Yeah, definitely; come on."

**[Outside]**

Ryder and Robbie are now standing in front of an opened car. He looks behind him to see a couple guys talking. Robbie takes out a key from his pocket.

"What are you doing?"

"You'll see. Okay, stand right there. Do you have your keys?" Robbie turns to stand in front of Ryder. Ryder takes out his keys.

"Perfect. Hold them up like so." Robbie brings the sharp tip up and then holds Ryder's arm up. "Now, whatever happens, just think about Jade; try to find her voice like you did at the game. Got it?"

Ryder nods as Robbie walks to the car and takes out the keys and puts the sharp tip against the shiny black car. He scratches it and walks across, making a very long dent.

"Hey, hey, hey, dude! What do you think you're doing to that truck, bro?" Robbie shouts at Ryder. The men turn around and see Ryder standing there, holding the key up.

"What the hell?" One of the guys in a white shirt shouts as he walks over to Ryder. Before they know it, the man's fist connects with Ryder's face and he falls to the ground.

"Ow! My god, wow...!" Robbie shouts. The men beat Ryder up as Robbie stands there and watches. Robbie looks at the heart monitor and it increases a tons.

"Come on, stay calm." Robbie mutters. "Stay calm."

"Stop, stop it right now!" The teacher, Mr. Harris, shouts, walking over to them. The boys leave the ground and Mr. Harris looks down at Ryder. "What do you idiots think you're doing?"

**[Hospital Room]**

Derek walks into Peter's room and sits on the bed. He turns his chair around to face him. "I need your help," Derek starts. "If you can hear me, I need you to give me a sign. Blink. Raise a finger; anything, just...just something to point me in the right direction, okay? Someone killed Laura; your niece." Ryder slowly says. "Laura? Whoever he is, he's an alpha now. But he's one without a pack; which means he's not as strong. I can take him, but I have to find him first. Look, if you know something, just give me a sign. Is it one of us? Someone else make it out of the fire? Just give me anything. Blink. Raise a finger. Just anything." Derek grabs Peter's arms and shakes them. "Say something!"

"Let him go." The nurse shouts. Derek quickly looks at her as he stands up. "You think after 6 years of this, yelling at him is going to get a response?"

"You got a better method?"

"Patience; he'll respond if you give him time."

"I don't have any more time." Derek leaves the room. As they leave, Peter raises a finger.

He walks out to his car and stops at the car door when he sees a note attached. He reads it and looks around. He gets in his car and drives away to the vet's office.

**[Detention]**

Ryder and Robbie sit in detention, as Mr. Harris plays on his iPad.

"Excuse me, sir?" Ryder starts. "Uh, I know it's detention and all, but, uh, I'm supposed to be at work, and I don't want to get fired." Mr. Harris just looks back down and Ryder sighs. "You knew I would heal?"

"Yes." Robbie responds.

"So, you did that to help me learn?"

"Yes." Robbie starts playing with his pencil.

"But partially punish me."

"Yeah...!" Robbie scoffs. "Well, that one's obvious."

"Dude, it's not my fault that your dad almost got ran over. There are not 3,000 of me. I can't duplicate myself a bazillion times and save a bunch of people at one time."

Robbie doesn't answer. He just looks at the board. "Look, you have something, Ryder. Okay? Whether you want it or not, you can do things that nobody else can do. So, that means you don't have a choice anymore. It means you have to do something."

"I know. And I will."

"Alright, both of you, out of here."

**[Animal Clinic]**

Ryder walks into the Animal Clinic and hears some punching. He arches his eyebrow and walks towards the sound to see Derek punching a tied up Dr. Deaton, who is unconscious.

"What are you doing?!" Ryder runs towards Derek and catches his hand.

"Look, when he's conscious, he can keep himself from healing, but unconscious, he can't."

"Are you out of your mind? What are you talking about?"

"You want to know what the spiral means, Ryder? It's our sign for a vendetta, for revenge. It means he won't stop killing until he's satisfied."

"You think he's the alpha?"

"We're about to find out!"

"Hit him again, and then you'll see me angry."

Later, Ryder dabs the blood off of Dr. Deaton's face and Derek walks around the room. "Do you have a plan?" Derek asks as he walks up to Ryder.

"Just give me an hour?"

"And then what?"

"Meet me at the school; in the parking lot."

_**[School]**_

Robbie drives down the road to the school parking lot with Ryder in tow. They hop out and close the doors before looking for Derek who has Dr. Deaton in his car.

"This is a terrible idea." Robbie states. Ryder looks around.

"Yeah, I know."

"But we're still gonna do it?"

"Can you think of something better?"

"Well, personally, I'm a fan of ignoring a problem until eventually it just goes away."

"Just make sure we can get inside."

A car approaches and Ryder sees Derek pull up and Dr. Deaton in the backseat, still unconscious. "He's here."

Derek gets out as Ryder and Robbie head towards him. "Where's my boss?"

"He's in the back." Derek simply says, slamming the door.

"Oh, he looks comfortable." Robbie sarcastically says, seeing Dr. Deaton tied up and lying crookedly. Ryder touches Robbie as he heads into the school, Robbie following closely behind.

"Wait, hey! What are you doing?" Derek asked, leaning against the hood of the car.

"You said I was linked to the Alpha. I'm gonna see if you're right."

**[Inside the School]**

Robbie and Ryder walk down the hall, holding flashlights, letting it flood on the floors as they walk into the office. Ryder walks to the intercom and turns it on.

"Okay, one question. What are you gonna do if the Alpha doesn't show up?"

"I don't know."

"And what are you gonna do if he does show up?"

"I don't know."

"Good plan."

"You said that a wolf howls to signal his position to the rest of the pack, right?"

"Right, but if you bring him here, does that make you part of his pack?"

"I hope not." Ryder answers.

"So do I." Robbie hands Ryder the intercom and turns it to max.

"All right, it's all you."

Ryder clears his throat before pressing the button. Ryder lets out a shrill howl. Outside, Derek is looking down at the ground and closes his eyes after hearing Ryder's shrill howl.

"You've gotta be kidding me." Derek inhales.

"Was that okay? I mean, that was a howl, right?"

"Yeah, technically..." Robbie scoffs.

"Well, what did it sound like to you?"

"Like a cat being choked to death, Ryder."

"What do I do? How am I supposed to do this?"

"Hey, hey, listen to me. You're calling the alpha, right? Be a man. Be a werewolf, not a teen wolf. Be a werewolf. Do it."

"Okay." Ryder clicks the intercom again and lets out a stronger, more powerful howl.

**[Outside]**

"I'm gonna kill both of you!" Derek shouts as Robbie and Ryder walk outside and walk in his direction. "What the hell was that? What are you trying to do, attract the entire state to the school?"

"Sorry, I didn't know it'd be that loud."

"Yeah, it was loud." Robbie laughs. "And it was awesome."

"Shut up." Derek says before a sharp pain enters his back and blood starts pouring out his mouth. Right there, behind him, is the Alpha, lifting him up with his claws. The Alpha isn't like how the actual wolves look. It was huge. Huge enough to possible look through the windows of the 3rd floor of the Twin Towers of New York. The Alpha tosses him 50 feet through the air and Robbie and Ryder scream. They run back to the school, with the Alpha chasing them. They run in, and lower to the ground as they shut the door. Ryder suddenly remembers that before the Alpha appeared, Dr. Deaton wasn't in the car.

**A/N: CLIFFHANGER!**


	10. Night School

Chapter 10 - Night School

Panting, Robbie and Ryder run into the school. Thousands of thoughts ran through their heads that it was impossible to shut the thoughts out. They were worried if they were gonna survive or not.

"Lock it, lock it!" Ryder shouted a hint of fear in his voice. They had nothing to lock it with. That's what Ryder should've known.

"Does it look like I have a key?" Robbie asked.

"Well grab something!"

"What?"

"Grab anything!" He shouted. Robbie got an idea and stood up. Looking out the window, he looked everywhere. He sighted a large, yellow wrench lying on the cement. Ryder stood up and looked out the window. Robbie started moving and Ryder knew what he was doing. "No." Ryder tried to stop him from going outside.

"Yes." Robbie said.

"No." It was too late. Robbie had already gone outside. He walked to the wrench and kneeled down to get it. Suddenly, Ryder started shouted crazily. He looked up and saw the Alpha looking at him. Before the Alpha could strike, Robbie had already went back inside with the wrench. He opened the wrench and put it between the two door knobs. They both pant as they stay out of sight from the alpha. After a second, they slowly stand up.

"Where is it?" Ryder asked as they look for the Alpha. "Where'd it go?" They slowly backed away as Robbie shone his flashlight, letting it flood on the walls and the door, and the floor.

"That won't hold, will it?" Ryder asks.

"It probably won't." Robbie answers. Ryder softly exhales and looks at the other end of the hall. Chills run down there back as there's distant howling inside the building. They dash for it and end up in Sikowitz's classroom.

"Move the desk." Robbie orders as they run to the desk after shutting the door. The desk screeches against the floor. "Shush, stop, stop." He whispers. "The doors not gonna keep it out."

"I know."

"I hate your boss." He suddenly says.

"What?"

"Deaton, the alpha, is your boss."

"No, that can't be right."

"Yes," Robbie argues. "He's the murdering psycho werewolf."

"That can't be."

"Oh, come on. He disappears, and that thing shows up 10 seconds later to toss Ryder 20 feet through the air? That's not convenient timing?"

"It's not him." Ryder denies.

"He killed Derek." Robbie stated.

"No, Derek's not dead." Ryder denied. "He can't be dead."

Robbie scoffed, "Blood spurted out of his mouth, okay? That doesn't exactly qualify as a minor injury. He's dead, and we're next.

"Okay!" Ryder quietly shouted. "Just...what do we do?"

"We get to my jeep, we get out of here, and you seriously think about quitting your job, good?"

Ryder nods. They run to the windows and sit down under them. Ryder was starting to worry about Jade and stuff. What if she broke up with him because he "stood her up" when he and Robbie were trapped inside the school? Ryder stands up and starts trying to open the window. Robbie stops him.

"No, they don't open. The school's climate-controlled."

"Then we break it."

"Then we break it which will make a lot of noise." Robbie corrects him.

"Then..." He sighs. "We run really fast..." Ryder looks at the jeep. "We run really fast."

When he looks at the jeep again, Ryder notices something. The hood on the jeep is bent, crushed, and ruined.

"Robbie, what's wrong with the hood of your jeep?"

"What do you mean? Nothing's wrong with it."

"It's bent."

"Like, dented?" Robbie gets a closer look.

"No, I mean bent."

"What the..." Something cuts Robbie off. The window next to them shatters and they duck down. When it's all over, Ryder and Robbie look to see a car battery on the floor across from them. "That's my battery." Robbie starts to get up but Ryder pulls him down.

"Don't." Ryder whispers.

"We have to move."

"He could be right outside."

"He is right outside." Robbie corrects. They both breathe heavily as Robbie shines the flashlight at the car battery.

"Just let me take a look." Ryder whispers. He slowly gets up and looks out the window from an inch. The Alpha is nowhere in sight.

"See anything?"

"No." He whispers.

"Move now?"

"Move now." Ryder nods. They slowly get up and walk out the classroom. Once in the hallway, Ryder says, "This way." as he walks down the hall but Robbie stops him.

"No, no, no, no." Robbie said.

"What?"

"We should go somewhere without windows."

"Every single room in this building has windows."

"Or somewhere with fewer windows," Robbie suggested.

Ryder got an idea. "...the locker room."

"Yeah."

They reach the locker room and Robbie shines the flashlight as they walk in. Ryder is the first to break the silence.

"Call your dad."

"And tell him what?" Robbie asked.

"I don't know. Tell him anything. There's a gas leak, a fire, whatever." Ryder looks at him. "If that thing sees the parking lot filled with cop cars, it'll take off."

"What if it doesn't?" Robbie asks. "What if it goes completely terminator and kills every cop in sight, including my dad?"

"They have guns." Ryder looks at the door to make sure nobody or that thing wasn't coming.

"Yeah, and Derek had to be shot with a wolfsbane-laced bullet to even slow him down, remember that?"

"Then we...then we have too..." Ryder sighs trying to think of something as Robbie looks around. "We just have to find a way out and run for it."

"There's nothing near the school for at least a mile."

"What about Derek's car?"

"That could work." Robbie says. "We go outside, we get the keys off his body," Robbie shivers. "And then we take his car."

"And him." Ryder added.

"Fine, we'll do it your way." Robbie quietly shouted. He walked away and Ryder followed. They reached the door. When Robbie was about to twist the door knob, Ryder stopped him when he hears something.

"What?"

"I think I heard something."

"Like what?" Robbie shouted.

"Shush, quiet." He looked at the door and they slowly backed away. Holding their breaths, they tried to stay as quiet as possible. Ryder looked down and saw the light on. He covered it and Robbie turned it around. Robbie saw they were near the lockers so he loudly gets in it. "Robbie, seriously?" Ryder mutters as he gets into a locker himself.

The knob slowly turns and the door opens. Inside the locker, it's hard to tell what or who's at the door. Robbie puts his hand over his mouth from screaming as the vibe of darkness fills the room. Ryder covers his mouth when he thinks he saw a pair of human eyes looking at him. He screamed and the locker opened. It was just the janitor. Robbie comes screaming a little out of a locker and they try to reason with the janitor.

"Quiet my butt, what the heck are you trying to do, kill me?" The janitor asks and grabs them by the neck collars. He opens the door and pushes them into the hallway.

"Just listen for half a second, okay?" Robbie says.

"Not okay. Get the heck out of here right now."

"Just give us one second to explain."

"Just shut up and go..." The janitor is pulled back by something and the door closes. The see blood on the wall as the janitor screams. They cringe a little when the janitor is thrown onto the door. The door falls and the janitor is seemingly dead. Ryder and Robbie look away from the janitor to see the Alpha. As the Alpha drags the janitor off the door, Robbie and Ryder run fast.

**[Jade's House]**

Jade is standing outside of her house at her driveway, waiting for Ryder. She's wearing a black with jacket with combat boots and a flowery shirt with blue as the background. She looks out into the distance and her phone rings.

She looks at it to see its Andre calling. She answers it.

"Cat says we're coming to get you."

"Please don't." Jade sighs. "I'm sure he's on his way. He's only...26 minutes late."

She hears Cat's voice on the other line so she assumes Andre had the phone on speaker. "You hear that? First, it's only "He's only 26 minutes late," a month later it's, "He only hits me when he's drunk." Slippery slope, Jade, slippery slope." Cat says.

"We're picking you up."

"No." Jade then hears an engine roaring. She looks to see Andre's car pulling up.

"It's too late." He says. Jade walks to the driver's seat as she keeps an eye out for Ryder. "Cat gets what Cat wants." He says.

"Come on, get in. We can stop by his place and see if he's there." Andre offers. Her phone beeps and Jade sees a text from him.

"Hmm, is that him with the best explanation ever of why he's a freaking hour late?" Cat asks.

"Not exactly," Jade nods and looks up at the distance.

**[Hallway]**

Robbie and Ryder are still running away from the Alpha who's not far behind them. Heavy breathing is heard as they try to get to doors open. Robbie grunts when the door to the back doesn't open.

"What the heck." Ryder gets the door open enough to see what's behind it.

"It's a dumpster." Ryder says and gets his head out from under the crack. "He pushed it in front of the door to block us in."

"Come on," Robbie tries again. "Help me."

"Stop." Ryder says, throwing him away from the door. They walk down the hall as Robbie complains.

"I'm not dying here. I'm not dying at school."

"We're not going to die." Ryder assures him.

"God, what is he doing? What does he want?" Robbie looks behind him.

"Me. He wants me to join the pack. Derek says it's stronger with a pack."

"Yeah, great." Robbie says sarcastically. "A psychotic werewolf is into teamwork. "That's...that's beautiful."

Ryder looks out the window and stops Robbie. He points to the window and Robbie looks to see the Alpha watching. The Alpha looked back at them and started running to the window on all fours.

Ryder and Robbie start running and behind them, the glass shatters. The Alpha ends up on the floor then gets back up. Ryder and Robbie are now fleeing down stairs, losing the Alpha.

**[****Outside****]**

Andre, Jade and Cat are now outside the school. Andre gets out and opens the door for Jade, and she gets out. She grabs her phone and puts it in her pocket.

"What're we doing here anyway?" Andre asks.

"All I got was this." Jade shows him the message.

_To: Jade_

_Meet me at the school. URGENT - Ryder_

"They lock the doors at night, you know?" Cat asks, leaning forward and peeking her head out the window.

"That one's open." Jade points to the door with the wrench leaning on it and walks to the front steps with Andre following. Cat rolls her eyes and sits back.

"You don't need me to state the obvious, right?" Andre asks.

"That it looks like they broke into the school?" Jade asks, stopping in her trail. "No, it's pretty obvious."

From the looks of it, Andre gets nervous about her going in there alone. For all he knew, she could be killed or anything could happen; she could break her leg, she could hit her head on something hard if she tripped.

"Do you want me to come with you?"

"Mmm," Jade shakes her head. "It's okay." She starts to walk off into the school but he stops her.

"Hey, Jade..." She turns around and he stops talking. He hesitates to say what he was going to say next.

"You have this look on your face like you're about to say, "Be careful." She steps towards him. Cat tenses up and can smell jealousy.

"I am." Andre says. Jade keeps smiling at him. "What?"

"That concerned look on you. I've never seen it before."

"Well, I am concerned."

"Well, that's a good look on you." She shines her tiny flashlight on her face. "Don't worry." Jade says before walking off inside. Andre laughs and looks at the car to see Cat glaring at him.

As she walks further, the door behind her shuts.

**[Basement]**

Robbie and Ryder run into the basement where there are tons of messed up lockers with spider webs on them. They hide behind a couple and Robbie sighs of relief. Soft growling is heard from the other side. He looks at Robbie.

"What?" Robbie mouths.

Ryder mouths "Go."

They run into another room part of the basement. "Alright, we have to do something."

"Like what?"

"I don't know." Robbie started listing stuff. "Kill it, hurt it, or inflict mental anguish on it...something." Distant growling is heard as Robbie looks into what seems to be a closet or something. Getting an idea, he gets out his keys.

"Wait a minute, no..." Ryder whispers.

"Shush, shush, shush." Robbie mumbles quietly. The keys jangle and the growling gets closer. Robbie throws them into the room and Robbie and Ryder quickly hide behind the door. The growling gets closer and they watch the Alpha go into the room. They quickly shut the door behind it. They move the desk to the door.

_**[Outside]**_

Cat and Andre sit in the car, waiting for Jade to come back out. Andre looks around from the window and notices Robbie's jeep. "Do you see that?" Andre asks Cat.

"See what?"

"The hood on that piece-of-crap jeep looks crappier than usual." Andre starts to open the door but Cat stops him when she asks a question.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm gonna go take a look, stay here."

"I'm not staying in the car."

"Just stay in the dang..." Andre starts to get out again, but Cat grabs his arm.

"Do not leave me in the car." She shouts.

"Fine, god, don't have a meltdown." He gets out of the car and walks to the jeep with Cat in tow. He notices claw marks on one portion of the hood and traces it with his fingers.

"Hmm, look at that." Cat says. "It is indeed a piece of crap. Can we get Jade and leave now?"

Andre slowly backs away and Cat looks at him. "What are you doing?" He doesn't respond. "Are you getting Jade?" He just walks away to the steps. "Andre!"

**[Inside the school]**

"Ryder?" Jade's voice echoes as she points the flashlight down a hall. She was starting to get worried that something bad happened. A figure walking on all fours walked across from one door frame to another behind her. She turned around and didn't notice it. She turns back around and shines the light through the hall again. "Ryder?"

**[Hallway]**

Cat and Andre have gotten into the school to look for Jade. The dark, shallow halls gave a creepy effect that the school could be used for a haunted school. Andre and Cat walk into another hallway and Cat has to go pee.

"Are you kidding me?" Andre asks. "You have to use the bathroom now?"

"Yes, now. You have a problem with my showing a basic biological function?"

"You know, I'm starting to have a problem with all of your functions." Andre says. Cat walks into a bathroom. Andre sighs and leans against a wall when he sees a figure standing at the door frame.

"Daniels." He echoes. Andre suddenly gets the sense that it isn't Ryder. With its glowing red eyes, it couldn't be Ryder. "Ryder? Derek?"

The figure suddenly gets on all fours and runs away. He breathes heavily as Cat comes back.

"Did you find them?" She asks. She knits her eyebrows and looks behind her to see absolutely nothing.

"No, no." Andre sighs.

**[Pools]**

Jade is in the room where the indoor swimming pool is. She sort of hugs herself because of the cold air as she walks back in forth in the room. Her phone rings and she jumps.

_**[Basement]**_

Ryder and Robbie are trying to figure out how to get away when he hears something. "Wait. Do you hear that?"

"Hear what?"

"It sounds like a phone ringing."

"What?"

"I know that ring." Ryder whispers. "It's Jade's phone."

**[Pools]**

"Hey." Jade greets the caller. "I can't seem to find them." She tells Andre as she stands between the two pools. "Okay, give me a second and I'll be there." She hangs up and starts walking when her phone rings again. She looks to see its Robbie.

"Robbie?" She answers.

"No, it's me." Ryder says. "Where are you?"

"I'm in the school looking for you. Why weren't you at my place?"

"Where are you right now?"

"I'm on the first floor."

"Where...? Where are you exactly?"

"I'm at the swimming pools."

"Get to the lobby. Go now."

"Okay, okay. I'm coming." Jade hangs up and knits her eyebrows as she leaves.

_**[Main Hall]**_

Ryder and Robbie run into the lobby where Jade is just now getting to. "Why did you come?" Ryder asked. "What are you doing here?"

"Well, because you asked me to be here."

"I asked you to?" Ryder is confused. Jade gets out her phone and tries to find the message. She finds it and shows it to him.

"Why do I get the feeling you didn't send this message?" Jade asked.

"Because I didn't." Ryder answers.

"Did you drive here?" Robbie suddenly shouts.

"Andre did."

"Andre's here, too?"

"Yes, and Cat. What's going on?" Jade shouts as her phone rings. "Who sent this text?" Jade answers the phone call. "Where are you?" The door opens quickly and Jade hangs up now that she has found Jade.

"Finally," Cat sighs. "Can we go now?"

There's a heavy thud from overhead. Scared, Jade grabbed Ryder's hand and he held hers. "Run!" Ryder shouted when he heard the ceiling about to break. There's a loud crash as Robbie, Ryder, Jade, Andre, and Cat run upstairs. They run into a room and quickly shut the door. The pile all the desks and chairs against the door.

"Guys." Robbie says as he stands by the windows. "Robbie's talking." They still won't listen to him. "Hey!" He shouts, getting their attention. "Now that the door's covered, how are we gonna cover these 50 feet windows?"

"Can somebody please explain to me what's going on, because I'm freaking out here?" Jade says, looking at Ryder. "And I would like to know why. Ryder?" Ryder just walks away.

"Somebody killed the janitor." Robbie tells them as Ryder leans over a couple of desks.

"What?" Cat asks.

"Yeah, the janitor's dead."

"What's he talking about? Is this a joke?" Jade asked. Andre was the next one to ask a question.

"Who killed him?"

"No, no, no, no." Cat said. "This was supposed to be over. The mountain lion killed..."

"No don't you get it?" Andre interrupted her. "There wasn't a mountain lion."

"Who was it?" Jade snaps. "What does he want? What's happening?" Jade whispers the last part.

"Ryder!" She shouts.

"I don't know." He stammers. "I just...if we go out there, he's gonna kill us."

"Us...?" Cat asks. "He's gonna kill us?"

"Who...!" Jade shouted once again. "Who is it?"

"It's Derek." Ryder said. "It's Derek Hale."

"Derek killed the janitor?" Andre asked.

"Are you sure?"

"I saw him." Ryder said.

"The mountain lion..."

"No, Derek killed them." Ryder interrupted her.

"All of them?" Jade asked.

"Yeah, all of them starting with his sister..."

"And the bus driver...?"

"And the guy in the video store..." Ryder added to Jade's question. "It's been Derek the whole time. He's in here with us. And if we don't get out now...he's going to kill us, too." Ryder faces them.

"Call the cops." Andre orders.

"No." Robbie says.

"What do you mean, "No?"?"

"I mean no. You wanna hear it in Spanish? No. Look, Derek killed 3 people, okay? We don't know what he's armed with."

"Your dad is armed with an entire sheriff's department." Andre states. "Call him."

"I'm calling." Cat gets out her phone and dials 9-1-1.

"No, Cat, would you just hold on a second?" Robbie tries to stop her, but Andre pushes him away.

"Yes, we're at Hollywood Arts high school. We're trapped and we need you to...but..." Cat looks at her phone and then tears up a little. "She hung up on me."

"The police hung up on you?"

"She said that they got a tip warning then that there are gonna be prank calls about a break-in to the high school. She said that if I called again that they're gonna trace it and have me arrested."

"Okay, then call again." Jade said.

"No," Robbie starts. "They won't trace a cell. They'll send a car to your house before they send anyone here."

"What the...what..." Jade stammers. "What is this?" She starts tearing up. "Why does Derek want to kill us? Why is he killing anyone?" Suddenly, everyone starts looking at Ryder.

"Why is everyone looking at me?"

"Is he the one that sent her the text?" Cat asked.

"No." Ryder says. "I mean, I don't know."

"Is he the one that called the police?"

"I don't know!" Ryder shouted at her.

"Alright," Robbie spoke up. "Why don't we just back off the throttle here, yeah?" Robbie walks with Ryder to a different part of the room.

"Okay, first off, throwing Derek under the bus, nicely done." Robbie tells him quietly.

"I didn't know what to say. I had to say something. And if he's dead then it doesn't matter, right?" Ryder sighs "Except if he's not." He looks at an upset Jade. "Oh, God, I just totally bit her head off."

"And she'll totally get over it." Robbie says. "Bigger issues at hand here, like how do we get out alive?"

"We are alive." Ryder whispers. "It could've killed us already. It's like it's cornering us or something.

"So what, he wants to eat us all at the same time?"

"No! Derek says it wants revenge."

"Against who...?"

"Jade's family...?" Ryder guessed.

"Maybe that's what the text was about. Someone had to send it."

"Okay, buttheads!" Andre shouted. "New plan; Robbie calls his useless dad and tells him to send someone with a gun and decent aim. Are we good with that?"

"He's right." Ryder says. "Tell him the truth even if you have to. Just call him."

"I'm not watching my dad get eaten alive." Robbie starts to walk away. Andre goes after him.

"Alright, give me the phone." Andre shouted, putting his hand on Robbie's shoulder. Robbie turns around and punches him.

"Andre!" Jade shouts and runs to his side. "Are you okay?' She turns and glares at Robbie and Ryder. Robbie takes out his phone and calls his dad.

"Dad, hey, it's me. And it's your voicemail. Look, I need you to call me back now. Like right now." Suddenly, there's loud banging on the metal. Everybody jumps at the noise and see that the Alpha's trying to get in. Ryder takes hold of Jade's hand as she hides behind him and they all back away, Robbie clinging to Ryder, Ryder clinging to Robbie and Jade, Jade clinging to Ryder, Andre clinging to Jade, and Cat clinging to Andre and fear. "We're at the school, okay? We're at the school." The loud banging continues and he hangs up.

"Oh, god...!" Cat shouts and clings to Andre tighter. "Oh, my God..."

"The kitchen, the door out of the kitchen leads to the stairwell." Robbie says.

"It only goes up." Ryder corrects him.

"Up is better than here."

The Alpha is nearly in before they can even run. They run out the other door and the Alpha fully breaks in to only see the door closing. It gives a loud growl and howls before going to find them.

Robbie, Cat, Andre, Ryder, and Jade run up the stairwell not letting go of each other. They're in the hall away from the alpha who's trying to guess where the heck they are right now. They run into the Chemistry lab and close the door. The room is filled with nothing but quiet panting as a distant growl is heard. Cat covers her mouth, afraid she'll scream then the alpha will kill them. They see the Alpha walk by the lab and the distant growling is faint. Everyone then starts breathing again.

"Andre, how many people can fit in your car?" Ryder silently asks him.

"Five if someone squeezes on someone's lap."

"Five? I barely fit in the back." Jade whispers.

"It doesn't matter." Robbie says. "There's no getting out without drawing attention."

"What about this?" Ryder walks to a different door. "This leads to the roof. We can go down the fire escape to the parking lot in like, seconds."

"That's a deadbolt."

"The janitor has a key."

"You mean his body has it."

"I can get it. I can find it by scent, by blood."

"Well, gee, that sounds like an incredibly, terrible idea. What else you got?" Robbie asked. Jade was growing tired of this; all she wanted was answers but everyone kept lying to her.

Ryder sighs. "I'm getting the key." Ryder runs to the door but Jade stops him.

"Are you serious?" Jade asked him.

"Well, it's the best plan. Someone has to get the key if we wanna get out of here." '

"You can't go out there unarmed."

Ryder sees a pointing stick on the board and grabs it. It wasn't the best weapon though. Everybody looks at him as if he was dumb. Robbie sighs.

"Well, it's better than nothing."

"There's gotta be something else."

"There is." Cat whispered. Cat looked at a shelf that held chemicals and other stuff.

"What are we gonna do?" Robbie asked. "Throw acid on him?"

"No. Like a fire bomb. In there is everything you need to make a self-igniting Molotov cocktail."

"Self-igniting..." Robbie started.

"Molotov cocktail." Cat said more clearly. Everybody just stared at her. "What? I read it somewhere."

"We don't have a key for that either." Robbie believed. Andre just smashed the glass with his elbow and before they knew it, they were watching Cat make a weapon. She shook the liquid in the glass as it changed color and she poured the other ingredients in. Andre was her assistant, handing her the things she needed.

"Andre, hand me the sulfuric acid." Cat ordered. Andre reached for the sulfuric acid and then moved his hand to the wrong bottle and handed it to her. She poured it in and then shook it softly a little bit more before putting a lid on it. She handed it to Ryder when she was done.

"No." Jade objected. "No, this is insane, you can't do this. You cannot go out there."

"We can't just sit here waiting for Robbie to have to check his messages."

"You could die." Jade whispered. "Don't you get that? He's killed three people."

"And we're next."

Jade sighs.

"Somebody has to do something." Ryder whispered. He started walking to the door but Jade stopped him once again.

"Ryder, just stop," Jade started tearing up. "Do you remember...do you remember when you told me you knew whether I was lying or not? That I had a tell." He nods. "So do you. You're a horrible liar and you've been lying all night."

Andre starts smirking a little.

"Just...just...please don't go." Jade voice started cracking. "Please don't leave us. Please."

Ryder looks at them, "Lock it behind me." He starts walking again but Jade stops him. He's about to say something but she kisses him softly and with passion. He walks out when she pulls away.

**[Hallway]**

Ryder walks into the dark, silent hall. He starts slowly walking down the hall, careful with the Molotov cocktail in his hand. He tracks the janitor's smell to the gym. The smell comes all the way form the bleachers. He raises his eyebrow as he makes his way.

He looks between the bleachers to see the deceased janitor lying on one of the bleachers. He walks in between the bleachers and to the janitor. As he struggles to the get the keys, the bleachers start closing. He gets the keys and gets out in time to see the Alpha looking at him across the room. He notices the lights are on.

He throws the Molotov cocktail at him and it breaks, however it doesn't affect him. He cocks his head and the Alpha knocks him down.

**[Chem. Class]**

"I don't get this." Jade says as she sits on a lab table next to a standing Cat and Andre. Robbie is standing by the fire blanket. "I don't get why he's out there, and why he left us. And I can't..." Jade moves her hands from her chin and looks at them. "And I can't stop my hands from shaking."

"It's okay." Andre grabs her hands. "It's okay. It's gonna be okay." He tries to assure her.

Cat looks at the other lab table where she made the Molotov cocktail. She notices something different with the bottle. "Andre, did you give me the sulfuric acid? It won't ignite if it's not.

Andre continues to be snappish to her. "I gave you exactly what you asked for, didn't I?"

**[Gym]**

When the Alpha catches him, Ryder is under him, lying on the floor as the Alpha growls in his face. Ryder shows fear in his eyes as he struggles. The Alpha looks away from him and growls loudly.

The growl echoes through the school that Andre literally shakes and gets on his knees. As he touches the back of his neck, Jade, Robbie and Cat see the claw marks on his neck.

Ryder pants as he sits up and the Alpha is gone. That was close, Ryder thought, but where did he go? He groans. He struggles and yells as he lies on the ground again. Before he even knows it, he's transformed into a werewolf.

**[Chemistry Lab]**

Cat and Jade help Andre up and he says, "I'm okay."

"That didn't sound okay at all." Jade objects.

"What's on the back of your neck?" Robbie reaches to touch the claw marks but Andre slaps his and away.

**[Hallway]**

Ryder is walking back to the Chemistry lab. He's walking like a dead zombie, but as a werewolf. He's still in werewolf form. As he walks back to the Chem. lab, he keeps an eye out for the Alpha, but yet the Alpha is nowhere in sight. It's like he left, Ryder thought, did he or is he just hiding waiting to strike for a kill?

**[Chem. Lab]**

"I said I'm fine." Andre tells them.

"It's been there for days. He won't tell me what happened." Cat informs Jade and Robbie.

"As if you actually care, Cat," He snaps.

**[Hallway]**

Ryder looks around a corner, seeing if the alpha was in the hall. The coast was clear so he walks down the hall. As he walks to the Chem. Lab, he has flashbacks of touching Jade, kissing her, and just hugging her and laughing with her. He pants heavily as he gets closer. He gets to the door and puts the key in the lock. He turns it and the lock clicks.

"Alright, can we not argue for half a second here?" Robbie's voice echoes.

"Where's Ryder? He should be back by now." Jade panics. He purposely breaks the lock in the door and Jade starts shouting. "Ryder! Ryder, Ryder!" She tries to break open the door and Cat yells at her when she hears something.

"Stop...!" She looks at the window. "Do you hear that?" Sirens are wailing in the distance. "Listen." They sigh of relief and run to the window to see cops and ambulances pulling up along with fire trucks.

Ryder's back in the hall. He hears the sirens wailing too. He looks up and he's in human form again.

**[Outside]**

They're all out of the school and is talking to her dad on the phone. Ryder and Robbie are talking to Sheriff Shapiro. Cat and Andre left.

"Yeah, dad, I know." Jade spoke into the phone.

"Then why did you go to the school when you knew you were grounded?" Mr. West asks on the other line.

"Well, I was planning on hanging out with Cat and Andre, but then I got a text from Ryder telling me to meet him at the school. Andre and Cat drove me there and then I went in to look for him. I looked everywhere then he told me to meet him in the lobby. I go there only to find out it wasn't him who sent the message. Then we got trapped by someone who was trying to kill us."

"I'm coming to get you. Be ready."

"It's not like I have any choice." Jade mumbled as she hung up.

Ryder and Robbie have finished talking to Sheriff when they see Dr. Deaton on the ambulance. They walk to him.

"Dr. Deaton." Ryder said.

"Thank you for saving my life. I don't know how I got out of there." Dr. Deaton said. Ryder looked up to see Jade.

"Hold on." Ryder ran away to Jade who looked at him. "Jade, are you okay?"

"I don't know how you did what you did in there. I just know you've been lying about it. One minute, you're all calm and then one minute you're freaking out about something."

"I'll call you later." He said.

"No, Ryder." Jade said. "Don't call."

That's when Ryder knew they were broken up.

_**A/N: Don't worry, they get back together soon!**_


	11. Lunatic

Chapter 11 - Lunatic

"Where are we going?" Ryder asked as he and Robbie walked through the woods. Ryder was heartbroken about his break-up with Jade and Robbie had a solution to his break-up depression.

"You'll see." Robbie answered.

"We really shouldn't be out here. My mom is a constant state of freak-out from what happened at school."

"Well, your mom isn't the sheriff, okay?" Robbie asked. "There's no comparison, trust me."

"Can you at least just tell me what we're doing here?"

"Yes. When your best friend gets dumped-" Robbie started but ended up being cut off by Ryder.

"I didn't get dumped." Ryder denied even though it was true. "We're taking a break."

"All right, well when your best friend gets told by his girlfriend they they're taking a break, you get your best friend drunk." Robbie said. "Dude, you know, she's just one girl. You know, there are so many other girls in the sea."

"You mean fish in the sea." Ryder corrected him.

"Fish...? Why are you talking about fish? I'm talking about girls. I love girls. I love them. I love especially ones with red velvet hair, brown eyes, 5'3"."

"Like Jade?"

"Yeah, exactly...hey, how did you know I was talking about...what was I talking about? Hey, you're not happy. Take a drink." Robbie handed him a bottle of alcohol.

"I don't want any more."

"You're not drunk?"

"I'm not anything."

"Hey, maybe it's like - maybe it's like not needing your inhaler anymore, you know. Maybe you can't get drunk as a wolf. Am I drunk?"

"You're wasted."

"Yes!" Robbie shouted. "Come on, dude, I know it feels bad. I know it hurts. Well, I don't know, but I know this. I know that as much as being broken up hurts, being alone is way worse. That didn't make any sense. I need a drink."

Robbie took another sip as Ryder chuckled and looked around. As the alpha watched them, two men walked up to them.

"Well, look at the two brats getting their drink on."

"Give it back." Ryder growled as soon as the man grabbed the bottled.

"What's that, little man?" The 1st guy asked.

"I think he wants a drink." His partner answered.

"I want the bottle."

"Ryder, maybe we should just go."

"You brought me here to get me drunk, Robbie." Ryder turned to him. "I'm not drunk yet. Give me the bottle." He growled at the two men. "Give me the bottle of jack!"

"Ryder?" Robbie questions when he sees a golden tint in Ryder's eyes. "Okay, please tell me that was because of the breakup or because tomorrow is the full moon." Robbie shouted. "Going home now, yeah?"

"How about we just go?" The second man said.

"How about you just shut up?" Guy one says before disappearing.

"Come on, man, I'm freezing my junk off here." Suddenly, he gets picked up by someone. Ryder and Robbie have already left and a trash bin was lit. "Help...! Help me! Somebody help me! Help me! Please, God, help me!" He shouted as the mysterious person carried him to the lit up trash bin.

**[5 Days Later]**

5 days pass from the events at the school on Wednesday. In order to get everything repaired, they had closed school Thursday and Friday. Ryder lies in his bed Monday morning as the radio turns on.

"Beautiful Monday morning, Hollywood Arts high school is back open after being closed Thursday and Friday. Police search continues for alleged killer Derek Hale..." Melissa walks into Ryder's room and turns the radio off. She looks at him.

"We should probably set this to buzzer." She speaks. "Are you alive in there?"

"No." He answers.

"Not ready to go back to school?"

"No."

"You want to stay home another day?"

"No."

"Do you want a brand new car? Well, me too. This isn't just about happened at the school, right? I mean, it's what her name is. Do you want talk about it?"

Ryder scoffed. "Not with you."

"Hey, I've been through a few breakups myself, you know. I mean, disastrous ones, actually."

"I don't care about your breakups, mom. I'm gonna get her back."

**[School Parking Lot]**

"Dad, if you're going to insist on driving me to school, you at least have to let me get out of the car." Jade, Kate, and Chris West sat in the car in front of the rigged school.

"Kate, what's your opinion on home schooling?" He asked.

"Well, you know, I'm more of a-learning-by-doing kind of girl."

"What's your opinion on overprotective dads who keep ruining their daughter's lives?" Jade asked Kate. Kate laughed, reached over to Chris' side and unlocked the door. "Thank you." Jade said before leaving.

"You're welcome." She answers. "So, Chris..."

Chris interrupted her, "Don't. Your look communicates it perfectly. Yes, I underestimated the danger. Yes, we should've acted sooner. Yes I should've listened to you. Is there anything else or does that cover it?"

"All I was going to say is that you need to stop and get some gas."

**[School Hallway]**

"It's just weird." Jade spoke as she walked by Cat in the hall. "Everybody's talking about what happened the other night, and nobody knows it was us."

"Thank you for the protection of minors."

"Cat, do you think I made the wrong decision?"

"About wearing that jacket with that dress? Totally..."

"You know what I mean."

"Hello? Ryder locked us in a classroom and left us for dead. He's lucky we're not pressing charges or making him pay our therapy bills.

_**[Office] **_

"We are watching his family's house." Sheriff Shapiro said. "Maybe he'll wind up there. Give me a second. Don't you have a test to get to?" He asked Robbie.

"What's going on? Did you find Ryder yet?" Robbie asks.

"I'm working on it. You go take your test."

"Alright, dad, listen to me."

"Go!" Sheriff shouted.

"This is really important. You have to be careful tonight, okay?"

"Robbie, I'm always careful."

"Dad, you've never dealt with this kind of thing before, okay? At least not like this."

"I know which is why I brought people in who have. Go take your test."

_**[Chemistry Class]**_

"Jade." Ryder called out once he walked into Chemistry class.

"Mr. Daniels, please take a seat." Mr. Harris said. Ryder walked to his seat and Mr. Harris started passing out tests.

"You have 45 minutes to complete the test. 25% of your grade can be earned right now simply by writing your name on the cover of the blue book. However, as happens every year, one of you will inexplicably fail to put your name on the cover and I'll be left yet again questioning my decision to ever become a teacher. So let's get the disappointment over with. Begin."

Mr. Harris sits back at his desk after giving out all of the test packets. Ryder looks at the questions and answers. They keep changing. Ryder hallucinates one question asking which friends he'll kill. He jumps up and runs out. Robbie follows him.

"Mr. Daniels? Mr. Shapiro!" Mr. Harris shouts.

Robbie runs into the hall and it's empty. He takes out his phone and dials Ryder. He walks slowly as he listens for Ryder's phone.

"Ryder?" He walks into the locker room. "Ryder, are you in here?" He spots him leaning against the wall.

"Robbie, I can't..." He pants.

"What's happening?" Robbie asks. "Are you changing?"

"No. No, I can't breathe." He states.

"Here, use this." Robbie tosses Ryder his inhaler.

"I was having an asthma attack?" He asks.

"No, you were having a panic attack. But thinking you were having an asthma attack actually stopped the panic attack; oh, the irony."

"How did you know to do that?"

"I used to get them after my mom died. Not fun, huh?"

"I looked at her, and it was like someone it me in the ribs with a hammer."

"Yeah, it's called heartbreak. There are about 2 billion songs written about it."

"I can't stop thinking about her."

"Well, you could think about this; her dad's a werewolf hunter, and you're a werewolf, so it was bound to become an issue. That wasn't helpful. I mean, yeah, you got dumped and it's supposed to suck."

"No, that's not it." Ryder states. "It was like I could feel everything in the room, everyone else's emotions."

"It's got to be the full moon. So we'll lock you up in your room later just like we planned. That way the alpha, who is your boss, can't get to you either."

"I think we need to do a lot more than lock me in my room."

"What, you mean because if you get out, you'd be caught by the hunters?"

"No. Because if I get out...I think I might kill someone."

_**[Garage of the West Home]**_

"I prefer to think of it as another night trying to keep innocent people from being killed. It's a list which now includes my daughter."

"How do we know it won't try going after her again?" A fake detective asked. He, Kate, and Chris stood in the garage of the West residence, getting all the equipment for werewolf hunting.

"It won't go after Jade." Kate spoke softly as she focused on the equipment.

"Well, then, how come?"

"An alpha is like any other werewolf on a full moon. It struggles under its sway, which means tonight is our best chance to catch it, when it's unfocused."

"Yeah, but what if it has a reason to stay focused?"

"Oh, do you know something we don't?"

"I just don't like surprises, but you're the expert, so you tell me." Kate defended herself.

"What about Derek?" A young hunter asked.

"He's smarter that. He won't be out tonight. There are cops everywhere."

"And if for some reason he is..."

The garage door opens and Victoria West interrupts. "If he is - you find him, you kill him, and you cut him in half. Now," Victoria changed the tone in her voice of cruel to sweet. "Does anybody want a cookie?"

_**[Cafeteria]**_

Jade is sitting at a lunch table eating a cookie when Andre sits by her. He looks at her and smiles. She turns her head toward him and smiles. He notices a piece of chocolate chip on her lip.

"Oh, uh, you got something on your lip. Here, let me." He wiped it off her lip with his finger.

"Thanks."

"Sure. That's what friends are for."

"You want the bite?" Jade offered him a piece of her cookie.

"What?"

"Do you want a bite?"

"Oh. No. Thanks."

"Are you doing okay? I mean, since the other night?"

"Better than I thought I would be." Andre answered. "Are you still thinking about everything that happened?"

"I've been thinking mostly about Ryder. I haven't talked to him."

"That's probably a good idea."

"You don't think I made a mistake, do you?"

Outside the hall near the doors of the cafeteria, Ryder sits on the floor, listening to Jade and Andre's conversation. Every word echoes in his head. He smashes his head against the wall, almost busting it in.

"_No. In fact, I think he got...well, exactly what he deserves." _

_**[Locker Room]**_

"Alright geniuses," Coach Finstock shouts. "Listen up. Due to the recent pink eye epidemic -thank you, Greenberg- the falling people have made first line on a probationary basis, emphasis on the word "probationary." Rodriquez, welcome to first line. "Taylor, and, uh - oh, for the love of crud, I can't even read my handwriting! What is that, an "r"? No, no, that's not an "s". That's a...that's a...that's a "b." It's definitely a "b." Uh, Rodriguez, Taylor, and, uh - Bobbie have made first line.

Robbie rises from his seat next to Ryder and cheers! He looks at everyone. "Bobbie!" Coach shouts.

"Yes?"

"Shut up!"

"Yes, sir."

"Robbie."

"It's Bobbie." Robbie quickly said. "Call me Bobbie, or I swear I'll kill you."

"Another thing," Coach announces. "From here on out, immediately, we're switching to co-captains. Congratulations, Daniels."

"What?" Andre quickly asks.

"What do you mean what? Andre, this takes nothing away from you. This is about combining separate strengths into one unit. This is about taking your unit, Daniel's unit and making it one big unit." Coach finishes talking to Andre, who grinds his teeth, and walks to Ryder. "Daniels, it's you and Andre now. Everybody else, get your asses on the field, asses on the field!"

"Dude, can you believe this?" Robbie asks Ryder "You're a captain. I'm first line. I'm first freaking line!"

"Don't think we're gonna let this go." Andre tells Danny. "He does not gonna be much of a co-captain in traction."

"Yeah, because it's not like he scores more than anyone else." Danny tells sarcastically.

"Oh, is that the opinion of my best friend?"

"The opinion of your best friend is, who the hell cares whose team captain? He's a good player. And you need to seriously get a grip. Let it go."

**[School Hallway]**

Ryder and Robbie walk out of the locker room and walk down the hall. Robbie is excited about getting team captain, but it's really annoying Ryder. Ryder doesn't listen. Instead, he keeps thinking about Jade; her smell, her voice, her eyes, her existence.

"Are you not freaking out? I'm freaking out."

"What's the point?" Ryder asks. "It's just a stupid title. And I could practically smell the jealousy in there."

"Wait, you smell jealousy?"

"Yeah, it's like the full moon's turned everything up to ten."

"Can you pick up on stuff like, I don't know, desire?"

"What do you mean desire?"

"Like sexual desire?"

"Sexual desire...?"

"Yeah, sexual desire; lust, passion, arousal..."

"From Cat...?"

"What?" Robbie lied. "No, in a general, broad sense, can you determine sexual desire?"

"From Cat to you...?"

"Fine, yes, from Cat to me." Robbie admitted. "Look, I need to know if I have a chance with her, okay. I've been obsessing over her since the third grade?"

"Why don't you just ask her?"

"Well, to save myself utterly crushing humiliation." Robbie said. "Thank you, Ryder. Okay? So please, can you just go up and ask her if she likes me? See if her heartbeat rises and pheromones come out."

"Fine..." Ryder leaves and Robbie shouts, "I love you! You're my best friend in the whole world!" Ryder just rolled his eyes.

_**{Cat/Ryder}**_

"Hey, Cat? Can we talk for a second?" Ryder asks her once he approaches her.

"Of course," She walks off with him and they walk into an empty classroom. Once he closes the door, he walks towards her. She is now sitting on a desk. "Is this about the other night? You needed someone to talk to?"

"Just I needed to ask you something." Ryder got off task and asked her about Jade. "Do you, uh, do you know if Jade still likes me?"

"Of course she still likes you."

"Really...?"

"She'll always like you." She suddenly got his mood down. "She'll always like you as a friend, just as friends."

"Just friends...?"

"If you ask me, of course nobody asks me she made a big mistake. Ask me how I know that."

"How...?"

"Look, I know you locked us in there to protect us. When a guy risks his life for you, you should be grateful for it." Cat spoke. She tousled his hair and said, "I think you'd be pretty surprised at just how grateful I can be." She grabbed the back of his neck and pressed his lips against her's.

_**{Robbie/Ryder}**_

Ryder walked outside of the school to the track where lacrosse was about to start. "Hey. What happened?" Robbie asks.

"What?"

"What do you mean what? Did you ask her? Did she say anything? Did she say she liked me? Did she imply she liked me?"

"Yeah, yeah, she likes you. In fact, she's totally into you."

"Let's go, next!" Coach shouted. "Perfect."

"Ryder, are you okay dude?" Robbie asked. "Look, I know we just got good news and all, but there's still seven hours till the full moon, okay?"

"Let's go!" Coach shouted. "Guess some people don't appreciate your new status there, Daniels. Who's next? Let's go. You have a problem with that, Bobbie?"

"What? No."

"Alright, you're up, big boy. Let's go! That's it, Daniels! That's the spirit. You earn it. Earn it, Daniels!"

"Danny! Oh, man, Danny!" A player shouted when Ryder accidently elbowed him in the nose.

"Danny, are you okay?"

"Dude, what the heck are you doing?" Robbie asked Ryder.

"He's twice the size of me!" Ryder shouted.

"Come on, watch out." The coach shouted, walking to them.

"Yeah, but everybody likes Danny. Now everybody's gonna hate you."

"I don't care."

"Is he okay?" Cat runs up and asks.

"It looks like he just has a bloody nose..." Andre stops talking when he sees that Cat's lipstick is messed up.

"What?"

"Your lipstick's messed up."

"Oh." Cat snatches out a little handy mirror and opens it. She looks at her lips and her lip-gloss is all messed up. She wipes the messed up parts with her finger. "Oh, wonder how that happens.

"Yeah, I wonder." Andre lies. Robbie stares on and realizes that Ryder was lying to him. He figures out that they didn't talk about her liking Robbie, they just kissed.

_**{Jade/Kate}**_

"Right now, you can't tell your father about this, because he'll kill me." Kate and Jade stand in the guest room at the house. Kate was teaching her how to hunt werewolf. Jade concentrates at pointing a stun gun at her old stuffed bear she had when she was young.

"Okay."

"Okay. Well, what's our hapless victim's name?"

"Mr. Bear." Jade said. Kate laughs at the name.

"You named your Teddy Bear Mr. Bear? That's like the worst Teddy Bear name in the world."

"I was five years old." Jade defended herself.

"Oh, ha-ha-ha...!" Jade faked her laugh. She looked at the bear and then shot it.

"See, now, that's what I'm talking about. See if you would've had that the other night, you would have just..." Kate stops when Jade sits on the bed with tears in her eyes. "Whoa, wait a minute. I thought you wanted to learn how to do this, sweetie."

"I just don't know what happened?" Jade snuffled.

"With Ryder...? Aw. Listen my gorgeous, young niece, you're gonna break hearts left and right, okay? And he was lucky to have gotten the tiny, little taste of Jade West's world that he got."

"But it just felt so right with him and then he just started acting so strange, then I didn't know what to believe."

"Well, sweetie, he's a guy. You can't believe anything."

"It's just the whole thing with Derek Hale the other night and Ryder saying he didn't know him, but I saw them together."

"Whoa, hold on. Wait, back up. Ryder knows Derek? Alleged killer Derek? Are they friends?" Kate pulled her closer to her as they sat on the bed.

"No. Not really. I mean, at least that's what he said."

"How about you tell me everything that Ryder said about Derek?"

"What do you mean by everything?"

"I mean everything." Kate's voice turned hard when she emphasized "everything."

_**{Ryder's House}**_

"Ryder?" Melissa asked when Robbie suddenly ran into the house with a black bag. Robbie was about to run up the stairs when Melissa's voice stopped him.

"Robbie." He corrected.

"Key...!"

"Yeah, I had one made, so..."

"That doesn't surprise me. It scares me. It doesn't surprise me. What is that?" She pointed to the back.

"Uh, it's a school project."

"Mmm. Robbie, he's okay, right?"

"Who, Ryder...? He's totally fine."

"He just doesn't talk to me that much anymore, not like he used to"

"Well, he's had a bit of a rough week."

"Yeah, yeah, I get it. Yeah, um- okay, uh - be careful tonight."

"You too,"

"Full moon," She suddenly said.

"What?" Robbie looked back at her and saw her heading out the door. She turned back to him.

"There's a full moon tonight. You should see how the E.R. gets. It brings out all the nut jobs."

"Oh."

"You know, it's actually where they came up with the word "lunatic". Once she left, Robbie rushed up the stairs and turned Ryder's bedroom light on. Screaming, he shouts, "Oh, my God! Dude, you scared the hell out of me. Your mom said you wouldn't home yet."

"I came in through the window." Ryder stated as he sat on the chair in the corner.

"Okay. Uh, well, let's get this set up. I want you to see what I bought."

"I'm fine. I'm just gonna lock the door and go to bed early tonight." Ryder said.

"Are you sure about that? You've got this kind of serial killer look going on in your eyes, and I'm hoping it's the full moon taking effect, because it's really starting to freak me out."

"I'm fine. You should go now."

"Alright, I'll leave. Well, look, would you just at least look in the bag and see what I bought? You know, maybe you use it, maybe you don't. Sound good?"

"You think I'm gonna let you put these on and chain me up like a dog?"

"Actually, no." When Ryder slowly got off the chair and bent down to see what was in the bag, Robbie quickly handcuffed him to the heater.

"What the hell are you doing?" Ryder shouted.

"Protecting you from yourself and giving you some payback for making out with Cat.

_**[Sporting Goods Store]**_

Jade walks around a sporting goods store when she picks up a crossbow. She looks through the hole and turns around looking at people. She finds Andre, who's looking at her, smiling. She puts the crossbow down and smiles.

"What are you doing here?" Andre asks once he walks up to her.

"Oh, I was just thinking I might get back into something I haven't done for a while. What about you?"

"Oh, uh, I'm here for Danny. Daniels bashed him pretty hard on the field. Why do I get the feeling you could use someone to talk to?"

"Is it that obvious?" She asks.

"Well, maybe because I'm kind of feeling the same way."

_**{Ryder's Room}**_

Robbie opens Ryder's bedroom door and appears with a water bottle and a dog bowl with his name written on it. "I brought you some water." He spoke.

"I'm gonna kill you!" Ryder shouted.

"You kissed her, Ryder, okay? You kissed Cat. That's like the one girl that I even liked. You know, the past three hours, I've been thinking; it's probably just the full moon, you know, he doesn't even know what he's doing, and tomorrow, he'll be totally back to normal. He probably won't even remember what a complete dumbass he's been, a son of a witch, and a freaking unbelievable piece of crap friend."

"She kissed me."

"What?"

"I didn't kiss her. She kissed me. She would've done a lot more, too. You should've seen the way she had her hands all over me. She would have done anything I wanted. Anything..."

_**{Andre's Car}**_

Andre and Jade were sitting in Andre's car in front of the sporting goods store. Jade sighed and yawned. She had to admit, she missed Ryder. She missed his smile, his smell, his hair, his eyes, his existence and she loved that she was the only one who got to kiss him.

"If I tell you something," Jade was the first one to break the silence. "Will you promise not to laugh?"

"I would never laugh at you."

"I don't think it was Derek in that school."

"I don't think it was either."

_**{Robbie/Ryder}**_

Ryder sat by the heater in his room as if he didn't have any choice. He felt Robbie's presence behind the door, so he figured Robbie was listening.

"Robbie, please let me out. It's the full moon, I swear. You know I wouldn't do any of this on purpose. Please, Robbie, let me out." Ryder felt like a whining puppy. "It's starting to hurt. It's not like the first time. It's the full moon. It's Jade breaking up with me. I know that it's not just taking a break. She broke up with me and it's killing me. I feel completely hopeless. Just, please, let me out."

"I can't." Robbie said.

"No, no, no!" Ryder screamed and his canines started showing, his head felt like it was spinning. His eyes turned golden and his writs started bleeding.

_**{Jade/Andre}**_

"Is there something else?" Andre asked. "Look, Jade, just because you can't trust Ryder doesn't mean you can't trust anybody."

"But that's the thing." Jade responded. "There are people lying to me, people closer than Ryder."

"Who...?"

"My father and it's not..." Jade paused. "It's not like I don't realize we're not exactly the most normal family on the block. I mean, not every teenage girl comes home to a garage full of Gluck's and AK-47s."

"But...um...?"

"I just have this weird feeling like my dad knows more about what happened in the school than we do."

_**{Robbie}**_

The house suddenly grew quiet. It was almost too quiet. It was drop a pen silent even though Robbie was leaning against the closed bedroom door.

"Ryder, are you okay?" Robbie got up and opened the door to see Ryder has escaped.

_**{Andre/Jade}**_

"I saw someone standing in the hall, but - but, I mean it might've been Derek, but I couldn't see any features. It was just this kind of black shape. Here's where it gets really hard to explain. This guy -or whatever it was- it just got down on all fours, and then just took off."

"On all fours, like hands and knees...?"

"No, like hands and feet, like an animal...he moved like an animal."

"Well, then how do you know it wasn't an animal?"

"Because when he was standing up, he looked like a guy."

They don't notice a werewolf Ryder in front of the car. Ryder's werewolf vision makes it look like their kissing when really, they're talking.

"Then what was it?" Jade asked then suddenly, Ryder jumped on top of the car. "What was that?"

Ryder lands on top of the car and sticks his claws onto the roof. He's about to do something else when someone knocks him off. They tumble into the woods and Ryder is able to see that it's Derek. Derek was back from hiding. Ryder guessed Derek was watching him the whole time.

"Stop, Ryder, stop...!"

"What's happening to me? Ryder asks when he gets full control.

"What's happening to you; exactly what he wants to happen."

_**{Robbie}**_

Robbie is driving around, looking for Ryder when he drives up to a crime scene. He sees someone being put up in the back of an ambulance and that person is in a body bag. He can't find his dad anywhere so he starts panicking.

"Dad, Dad?" He turns in circles, looking everywhere once he gets out. "Has anyone seen my - has anyone seen my dad?"

"Robbie," He hears his dad. He turns to see his dad standing in front of him. "What are you doing here?"

He doesn't respond. He just gives his dad a tight hug.

Kate and Chris are sitting in a car, staring at the scene.

"That one's Robbie?" Chris asks.

"He's another friend of Jade."

"Are you gonna tell me about that talk you had with her?"

"You tell me something first. That night you came across those two betas, one of them was smaller, right?"

"Mmm."

"Well, was he just smaller? Or could he have been younger, too?" Kate asked.

_**[Ryder/Derek]**_

"Thanks. Wait, I can't do this." Ryder said. "I can't be this and be with Jade. I need you to tell me the truth. Is there a cure?"

"For someone who was bitten...?" Derek asked. "I've heard of one. I don't know if it's true though."

"Well, what is it?"

"You have to kill the one that bit you."

"I have to kill the alpha?"

"Ryder, if you help me find him; I'll help you kill him."


	12. Wolfsbane

Chapter 12 - Wolfsbane

Adrian Harris is still at the school; he clears his chalk board and grabs his case. He puts it around his neck and walks to the other side of his desk when he sees a piece of paper with names and red X's beside them. He starts to feel presence behind him and there's a loud growl.

"Please don't kill me." Adrian begs without even turning around.

"Do you know who wrote that list?" A deep voice belonging to the alpha asks.

"Laura." He responds, nervously swallowing. "Laura Hale."

"Do you know why she was looking for you?" He asks, watching as Adrian nods "no" nervously. "I know why. Turn around, Adrian." He orders, starting to walk towards him after throwing a desk chair to the chalk board. "Turn around and I'll show you. Turn around!"

"No. Please." Adrian begs.

"Look at me." The Alpha orders. "Look at what you've done!"

"Get down!" Derek shouts, barging into the classroom and pushing Adrian out of the way. They both look and see that the alpha has got away once again. They stand up and suddenly hear someone speaking into an air-horn,_ "This is the police. You're surrounded. No one leave the building."_

_**[**__**Car Chase**__**]**_

It's suddenly quiet before tires screech, chasing Derek. "Repeat, suspect is on foot." Sheriff speaks into the radio. "We're in pursuit, heading northeast." Just as another car gets in front of Derek, he falls to the ground, but gets up and runs further away.

_**[**__**Kate's Car**__**]**_

Kate and Chris are helping the cops and both of them are talking to each other on the phone considering they're in two different cars. "He's on foot and just ran into the iron works." He tells her, watching Derek wipe of the dust real quick.

"Wait, wait. Did you just say on foot?"

"Yeah, he just ran into the iron works.

"Running?"

"Yes, running."

"If he's on foot," Kate says to herself as she hangs up. "Then who's driving his car?"

_**[Derek's Car]**_

"Should I go faster?" Ryder asks, driving Derek's car as they help him and sits next to Robbie. Robbie looks back to see Kate following them.

"Go much faster." She says. The engine revs as Ryder slams onto the gas pedal. Robbie clicks a button on the radio and the cops voice starts to say, _"Suspect is on foot; he's heading into the iron works._" Right on time, Ryder pulls up as soon as Robbie goes to the back after throwing open the passenger so Derek could quickly get.

Ryder asks, "What part of laying low don't you understand?" He shouts as he pays attention to the road.

"Damn it, I had him!" Derek shouts, slamming his hand on the dashboard?"

"Who, the Alpha...?" Robbie asked.

"Yes!" He was still shouting. "He was right in front of me, and then the freaking police showed up."

"Hey, they're just doing their jobs." Robbie defends, getting a glare from Derek. Robbie suddenly sinks low.

"Yeah," He responds and starts to glare at Ryder. "Thanks to someone who decided to make me the most wanted fugitive in the entire state."

"Can we seriously get past that?" Ryder asks. "I made a dumb mistake. I get that."

"Alright...!" Robbie shouted, getting back up. "How did you find us?" Derek remains silent and Ryder looks at him.

Ryder asks, "Can you try to trust us for at least half a second?"

"Yeah, trust both of us." Robbie ads. "Or you can just trust him. I'll be back here."

"Look, the last time I talked to my sister, she was close to figuring something out." He starts to explain. "She found two things; the first was a guy named Harris?"

"Mr. Harris, our chemistry teacher?" Robbie asked, poking his head out to the front.

"Why him...?" Ryder asked.

"I don't know yet." Derek responded.

"What's the second?"

Derek pulls a paper out and it looks like the symbol on Jade's necklace. "She found some kind of symbol." Derek says.

"What?" Derek asks, seeing Ryder sigh and close his eyes for a second. "You know what this is?"

"I've seen it on a necklace; Jade's necklace."

_**[School]**_

The next day at school, Ryder and Robbie walk into the hall and start to talk about the night before. "This is gonna be impossible." Ryder stated.

"Why don't you just ask her if you can borrow it?" Robbie asked.

"How...?"

"It's easy, you just say." He starts to mimic Ryder's voice. "Hey, Jade, can I borrow your necklace to see if there's anything on it or in it that can lead me to an Alpha werewolf that I need to kill in order to kill in order to get back together with you."

Ryder shouts, "You're not helping!"

"Why don't you just talk to her?"

"She won't talk to me. What if she, like, only takes it off in shower or something?"

"That's why you ease back into it, okay?" He turns to Ryder. "Get back on her good side, remind her of the good times, and then you ask for the necklace." He sees that Ryder is staring off in space. He slaps him on the shoulder and continues, "You're thinking about her in the shower aren't you?"

"Yeah..."

"Alright, stay focused, okay? Get the necklace, get the Alpha, get cured, and get Jade back. Do it in order, got it?" Robbie asks, walking away to his first class.

"Get the necklace." Ryder muttered to himself before walking away.

_**[Doctor's Office]**_

_Andre is lying on the bed in the doctor's office, getting his claw marks checked out. "What did you say it was that scratched you?" The doctor asked as he grabbed a pair of shaper silver scissors. _

"_It was...it was just an animal." Andre responded. "Look, can you hurry this up? I'm missing first period." _

"_Have you had trouble sleeping lately?" _

"_Kind of, I've been having dreams." _

"_Were they dreams or night mares?" _

_Andre knits his eyebrows together and responds, "It's been mostly nightmares. They've been about a fire. It's this house and I can hear screaming and..." Andre pauses. "Wait, what does this have to do with anything?" _

"_Nothing, I hope." The doctor responds suspiciously. _

"_What is that?" Andre asked, looking at the object the doctor was holding. _

"_I'm just taking a closer look." _

_Andre starts to get nervous, "Look, I really don't have much time." _

_The doctor orders, "Just hold still." _

"_I thought you said you were just gonna take a look." _

"_Yes, but in order to do that, I might have to dig a little deeper. A medical instrument squeaks as the doctor picks it up. He starts to dig it into Andre's scratches and Andre screams. _

"_It hurts!" Andre exclaimed as the doctor pulls a little bit of skin. For a second, Andre hallucinates Derek doing the examination._ Andre jumps up and sees that he's still in the doctor's office. The doctor is looking at a chart as Andre continues to pant. "Alright, you can put your shirt back on. The scabs on your neck are nothing to worry about." The doctor speaks.

"So, I'm okay, for my game tonight?"

"Yeah, absolutely," Doctor says as Andre sits up. The doctor walks over. "I do want to give you an antibiotic though. Have you been eating any strange herbs lately?"

"Like what?"

"Well, you have aconite poisoning."

Andre asks, "What is aconite?"

"Well, it's a purple flower, also called Monkshood..."

Andre finishes, "Or Wolfsbane."

Hearing Andre end the sentence, the doctor asks, "Yes, so you _are_ familiar with it then?"

"No, I...I have no idea how I knew that."

Later, after the appointment, he walks up to Melissa's desk. Melissa greets him, "Hi."

"Hi." He politely greets her back. "Would you mind if I look something up on your computer real quick?"

"I bet a handsome face like that doesn't hear no very often." She responds. "Aren't you one of Ryder's friends?"

"Yeah, we're good friends, actually." Ryder lied.

"Just be quick, okay." She gets up and lets him sit down. He gets on Inquiry-it and types in _wolfsbane_. Once he's done looking it up, he gets up and leaves.

_**[School Hallway]**_

Andre walks down the hall of the school, heading towards Ryder's locker. Ryder searches for papers and puts them in her bag when Andre slams his locker shut. "I know what you are, Daniels." Andre starts, staring him right in the eye.

"What?" Ryder stammers. "What?"

"I know what you are."

"I'm sorry; I have no idea what you're talking about." Ryder lied, gulping a little bit.

"Yeah, yeah, you do." Andre responds. "Here's the thing; however it is you came to be what you are, you're gonna get it for me, too."

"Get what for you?"

"Whatever it is; a bite or scratch, sniffing magic fairy dust under the moonlight...I don't care. You're gonna get it for me, or..." He turns Ryder's head to see Jade. "She's gonna find out about it, too." He starts to walk away with a smirk.

_**[Robbie/Ryder]**_

Ryder finishes telling Robbie about his confrontation with Andre earlier as they walk into another hall. Robbie asks, "How did he find out."

"I have no idea."

"Did he say it loud, the word?" Robbie asks.

"What world."

"Werewolf," Robbie whispers. "Did he say, "I know you're a werewolf"?"

"No, but he implied it pretty freaking clearly."

"Okay, maybe it's not as bad as it seems." Robbie tries to ensure him. "I mean, he doesn't have any proof, right? If he wanted to tell someone, who's gonna believe him anyway?"

"How about Jade's dad...?" Ryder asked.

"Okay, it's bad."

"I need the cure right now."

Robbie wonders, "Does he know about Jade's dad?"

"I don't know."

"Okay, where's Derek?"

"He's hiding, which is exactly what we told him to do." Ryder responded. "Why?"

"I have another idea." He stops walking. "It's gonna take a little time and finesse, though."

"We have that game tonight. It's quarterfinals and it's your first game."

"I know, I know." Robbie says. "Look, do you have a plan for Jade yet?"

"She's in my next class."

"Get the necklace." He responds, walking away.

"Right...get the necklace."

_**[Class]**_

Ryder walks into class and sees Jade, looking pretty as ever. Jade looks up and sees Ryder. Turning to Cat, she grabs her and puts her in the seat beside her. Taking off his backpack, Ryder sits behind Cat. "Okay, class, let's settle down." Mrs. Ramsey speaks. "Let's get our books out."

"Jade." Ryder whispers, looking at her.

"Hey." Jade whispers back. "Class is beginning."

"I know. I'll shut up. I just...I have some stuff on my phone that I wanted to send you. I thought you might like it." Ryder opinionates as he whipped out his phone.

"Okay." Jade says before turning back to the board and Ryder starts to send pictures.

"Alright, I'd like to return to our discussion from yesterday with a more in-depth analysis of lago and the way in which he preyed upon Othello's jealousies." Mrs. Ramsey starts. Jade grabs her stuff and gets up, looking at Ryder with a teary face before walking out. He gets up and follows her, not noticing Cat's glare.

"Jade." He calls her name as soon as Jade is halfway down the hall. Jade stops and then turns to Ryder after a second.

"Why did you send me those?" Jade asked. "Are you trying to make me feel even worse for breaking up with you?"

"No." Ryder responded. "I thought you would like them. I thought they would remind you of us."

"Are you trying to hurt me?" Jade asked. "Get back at me?"

"No."

Jade takes a deep breath. "Please don't talk to me. Okay? I need more time to get to just friends. Okay? Please?" Jade says before walking away.

_**[Cafeteria]**_

Robbie sits next to Ryder at lunch and shoves a roll in his mouth, asking, "Did you get her to give you the necklace?"

"Uh, not exactly,"

"Ah," Robbie sighed. "What happened?"

"She told me not to talk to her...at all."

"So, she's not giving you the necklace."

"She's not giving me the necklace!" Ryder shouted.

"Well," Robbie speaks. "Did you find anything else out?"

"No."

"Okay, I came up with a plan B just in case anything like this happened.

"What's plan B?"

"Just steal the stupid thing."

"Can we at least trying getting to Harris?"

"My dad put him on a 24-hour protective detail, okay? The neck is all we got, so steal it. Thank you."

Ryder looks away to find that Andre has been staring at him probably the whole time he was talking to Robbie. "Robbie, he's watching us."

"Act normal." Robbie says. Ryder can't help but hear Andre chomp on his apple.

"_Ryder." _Andre's voice echoes as she listens to him. _"Can you hear me? You can, can't you?" _

"What's wrong?" Robbie questioned.

"Andre's talking to me. He knows I can hear him." Robbie starts to look at him, but Ryder snaps his head back. "Look at me and just talk to me; act normal. Pretend that nothing's happening."

"_Are you trying to pretend not to hear me?" _

"Say something. Talk to me!"

"I can't think of anything." Robbie says. "My mind's a complete blank."

"You're mind's blank?" He asks. "You can't think of something to say."

"Not under this kind of pressure." Robbie looks at Andre's table and continues. "FYI, he's not sitting with them anymore." Ryder looks around the cafeteria and tries to find him when Andre's voice echoes in his head again. _"Looking for me, Daniels? I'm right here." _He chuckles, leaning against the vending machine. _"So, what else can you do? Huh? Can you see better? Are you stronger, more powerful? No, I knew there was no way you suddenly got that good at lacrosse, which means you're actually a cheater, aren't you? I mean, can you even play lacrosse?" _

"Yes." Ryder whispers silently.

"_I'll bet my new co-captain's gonna score a bunch of shots tonight, aren't you. While you're pretending you're not a lying cheat, I'm gonna ruin your life if you don't give me what I want and you know what I'm gonna start with. Her." _Ryder knew he was talking about Jade. _"I'm gonna destroy any chance you have left with her."_ Ryder starts clutching his water bottle. _ "And when I'm done with that, I'm gonna get her all alone, and I'm gonna get my hands all over that tight little body..."_

"Ryder, come on, you can't let him do this." Robbie starts to say. "You can't let him have this kind of power over you, okay?"

"_I'm gonna do everything you never got the chance to do, and Jade, she's gonna beg for more. I'll be she likes to get loud. Maybe she's even a screamer. How are you gonna feel, Ryder? How are you gonna feel when she's screaming my name?" _

Suddenly, a loud clutter comes from Ryder's plate, making everyone jump, including Jade as Andre starts to chuckle.

_**[Swimming Pools]**_

Jade and Andre are swimming down the two aisles in the swimming room located in the school. They laugh at each other as they both swim to the edge. Jade strikes up a conversation, "You beat me again."

"I have an unfair advantage." Andre responds. "See these cheekbones? They're acrodemically suited for swimming in water.

From afar, Ryder sneaks up and sits in front of Jade's stuff. He looks to make sure no one is watching before digging through her bag. "So, you're coming to the game tonight, right?" Andre asks.

"I was thinking no."

"You have to. We win tonight. We're in the semifinals. It's not because of Ryder, right?"

"I was thinking it might be a little weird."

"He's fine with it. He actually asked me if you were coming. He said he hoped you didn't feel weird about it." Andre lied.

"I did?" Ryder asks himself, taking his eyes off the bag.

"He did?" Jade asked.

"Yeah..." Andre paused. "You know, he's a good guy. You can't hate him too much. I mean, it's pretty obvious she's a little immature to be dating someone like you, but then, I can't really blame him for trying." Andre finishes. She laughs. He splashes water on her; she holds him under.

Ryder finds nothing and zips the bag. He storms out, angrily.

_**[Hallway]**_

Andre walks through the school, a grin on his face before Cat calls after him. "Andre!" She shouts at him, pulling him back and holding her phone up. "This little text...? Not funny!"

"Oh, I wasn't trying to be funny. I would have put a 'ha-ha' at the end of it." He states, pointing to the text. "See, there's no ha-ha."

Cat reads, "Cat, please give up my spare house key at your earliest convenience..." She stops reading and looks at him, asking, "As we are no longer dating?"

"You didn't lose it, did you?"

"What is this?"

"Well, Cat, in preparation for some big changes, I've decided to drop some of the dead weight in my life and you're about the deadest."

"Are you breaking up with me?"

"I'm dumping, actually. I'm dumping you." He chuckles, starting to walk away, but Cat grabs him by the arm.

"I was dumped by the co-captain of the lacrosse team. I wonder how many minutes it'll take me to get over that." She says. Andre blows a kiss to her as he walks away. A heartbroken Cat looks around her. "Wait, seconds, actually." She yells. "Seconds...!"

_**[Robbie's Room]**_

Robbie walks into his room where the door is wide open with Derek hiding behind it. He sets his backpack on the desk and starts to sit on the chair.

"Hey Robbie," Sheriff Shapiro calls out from outside. He turns around and notices Derek.

"You...Derek..." He spots him. Derek puts his fingers to his mouth and points his finger to the hallway, telling him to go outside before he could come in. "I, um..." Robbie almost slams the door onto him trying to block Derek as she stands outside.

Sheriff Shapiro asks, "What'd you say?"

"What? I said 'Yo, Dad."

"Listen, I've got something to take care of, but I'm gonna be there tonight. I mean, your first game."

"My first game, gosh, great, awesome, uh, good." Robbie didn't know what to say.

"I'm very happy for you and I'm really proud of you."

"Thanks, me too, I'm happy and proud of myself."

"So, they're really gonna let you play, right?"

"Yeah, Dad, I'm first line." He says. "Do you believe that?"

"I'm very proud."

"Oh, me too, again, I'm...oh." He says as Sheriff Shapiro comes over and starts to hug her. "Huggie, huggie, huggie."

"See you there."

"Take it easy." He says, watching his dad walk downstairs. He sighs and walks back into his bedroom, closing it. Suddenly, Derek grabs him by the shirt and presses her against the wall. "Oh."

"If you say one word..." Derek starts to threaten.

"Oh, what, you mean, like, 'Hey, Dad, Derek Hale is in my room. Bring your gun'?" He cuts him off. Derek loosens his grip. "Yeah, that's right. If I'm harboring you're fugitive butt, it's my house, my rules buddy." Robbie starts to walk to his desk.

Derek asks, "Ryder didn't get the necklace?"

"No. She's still working on it, but there's something else we can try. The night we were trapped at the school, Ryder sent a text to Jade, asking her to meet him there."

"So?"

"The thing is that it wasn't Ryder who sent the message."

"Well, can't you find out who sent it?" Derek asked.

"No, not me, but I think I know someone who can."

_**[Jade's Bedroom]**_

Ryder quietly opens the window of Jade's bedroom door, trying not to be noticed by people in the neighborhood. He gets in and walks to the nightstand. No necklace there. She walks to the desk and sees a book lying there.

_**[Robbie's Room]**_

"You want me to do what?" Danny asked, standing next to Robbie's desk with his backpack on one shoulder.

"I want you to trace a text." Robbie restated.

"I came here to do lab work." Danny says. "That's what lab partners do."

"We will do that once you trace the text."

"What makes you think I know how?"

"I..." Robbie paused. "I looked up your arrest report, so."

"I...I was 13. They dropped the charges."

"Whatever."

"No, we're doing lab work."

"Oh, my..." Robbie scoffed.

Danny points to Derek who is sitting in a chair by Robbie's bed, reading a book, "Who is he again."

"Um, that's my cousin...Miguel." Derek looks up at them with a "really-you-had-to-choose-that-name" expression on his face.

"Is that blood on his shirt?" Danny asks. Robbie suddenly looks at Derek to notice there was in fact blood on Derek's shirt.

"Yeah, yeah, you see, he gets these really terrible nosebleeds. Hey, Miguel," Derek looks up at them. "I thought I told you that you could borrow one of my shirts." Derek puts the book down reluctantly and gets up, taking off his shirt. Even though he doesn't really want to, he open's Robbie's drawer and grabs a shirt that is blue with orange stripes.

"So, anyway, I mean we both know you have the skills to trace that text." Robbie starts to talk to Danny. "So, we should probably..."

"Robbie?" Derek says.

"Yeah,"

"This; no fit."

"Then try something else on."

"You're a horrible person." Danny mutters.

"I know. It keeps me awake at night. Anyway, about that text..."

"Robbie!" Derek shouts. "None of these fit."

They ignore him. "I'll need the ISP, the phone number, and the exact time of the text."

_**[Jade's Bedroom]**_

Ryder walks towards the desk and opens the book to see the receipt for the Los Angeles Bowling Alley. On the back, it says, "First date with Ryder!" He sits in the chair, depressed, when he suddenly sees something peeking out. He pulls it out and it's the necklace. He quickly puts the necklace in his pocket and climbs out of the window.

_**[Robbie's Bedroom]**_

"There." Danny sighs, getting all the information he needed. "This text was sent from a computer; this one." Robbie and Derek look closer to where he's pointing.

"Registered to that account name?" Derek asked.

"No, no, no, no, that can't be right." Robbie declared.

_Account registered to Los Angeles Hospital - Melissa Daniels. _

_**[Jade's House]**_

Ryder lands on his feet once he jumps from the roof as dogs start to bark. He starts to walk to her bike when he hears a, "Ryder" behind him. He looks to see Mr. West. Being polite after Mr. West invites him in, she follows him inside the house. "She should be home in a few minutes. She sometimes goes for a run after school."

"You know, actually, I should get going." Ryder stammers. "I've got a game to get to tonight."

"You want something to drink?" He offers, opening the fridge. "I'm gonna have a beer."

"You don't have to test me anymore. Your daughter already dumped me."

"Oh, it's no test. I'm sorry. High school romances burn bright, fade fast. Go ahead."

Ryder rejects, "I'm good. Thanks."

"So, I was curious about something, Ryder." Mr. West suddenly puts on a straight face. "How do you know Derek Hale?"

"Who...?'

_**[Forest]**_

"_So when I came to life, I found that I'm not to realize..." _Jade listened to music as she ran through the forest, not even stopping as her feet matched the rhythm of the music. She suddenly stops in front of Derek Hale's house. Curious, she walks up to the house and listens to the creaking door as she opens it. She slowly walks in, looking around. She walks into the living room and bends down, looking at something. She traces the claw marks with her fingers and looks up. She jumps up and screams before realizing it was Kate.

"Damn, you got some lungs on you!" Kate exclaims, flinching a little, almost going deaf.

Jade exhales and puts her head on her forehead. She looks up at Kate and asks, "Did you follow me here?"

"Well, you can't blame me for being concerned about my favorite niece, now, can you?" Kate asks, walking up. "What are you looking for?"

"I don't know something...anything."

"You mean answers to lingering questions like..."

"I'm looking for answers to why he would want to kill us." She answers, and Kate suddenly laughs.

"Well, I mean, come on, look at this place." There's a moment of silence for a minute until Kate continues. "Could you imagine if your father and I were trapped in something like this? It might do some pretty interesting things to your head, don't you think?"

Jade answered, "It wouldn't turn me into a psychotic killer."

"You don't have to be psychotic to be a killer." Kate responds. "You just need a reason. Even then, sometimes you can surprise yourself. What do you want, Jade?"

"I want to not be scared. That night in the school, I felt utterly weak. Like...like I need somebody to come in and rescue me. I hate that feeling. I want to feel stronger than that. I want to feel powerful."

"Jade, if you can give me just a little bit of time, be just a little patient. I think I can give you exactly what you want." She says then walks away, leaving Jade by herself.

_**[Jade's House]**_

"Jade said that she's seen you talking to him." Chris says, looking down at him. "Don't you think that seems a little disconnecting, Ryder? Talking to an alleged murderer?"

"It's not like I'm the only one who knows him." Ryder defends.

"Yes, but you're the only one that's talking to him."

"Why are you talking to me like I've done something wrong?"

"Have you?" He walks back over to him. He clears his throat and sits next to Ryder. "You don't have to be afraid of me. I mean, you get that I'm just thinking of my daughter's safety, right?" He asked. They don't even notice Jade come in the room, but take a few steps back.

"Will you believe me if I say I think about it, too? That it's all I think about. When we were in the school the other night, every choice that I made, everything I did, everything was to make sure that she was safe!" Ryder exclaims, jumping up.

"You should go." Mr. West says, standing up to face Ryder after he stopped shouting. "You don't want to be late for your game."

_**[Robbie's Car]**_

"_Did you get the picture?" _Robbie hears Ryder ask on the other end of the line. Ryder had previously sent Robbie a picture of the necklace.

"Yeah, I did, and it looks just like the drawing." He finishes before Derek literally squeezes Robbie's arm while bringing the phone to his ear.

"Hey, is there something on the back of it?" Derek asked. "There's gotta be something: an inscription, an opening, something."

"_No, no, the thing's flat. It doesn't open. There's nothing in it, on it, around it, nothing_." Ryder finishes. As soon as the phone is handed back to Robbie, Ryder asks Robbie a question. _"Where are you? You're supposed to be here, you're first line." _

"_Where the hell is Bobbie? Huh?" _They hear Coach Finstock asks.

"_Boy, you're not gonna play if you're here to start." _

"I know! Look, if you see my dad, can you tell him...tell him I'll be there. I'll just be a little late. Okay? Alright, thanks." He hangs up and puts the phone down.

"You're not gonna make it." Derek comments.

"I know."

"And you didn't tell her about his mom, either."

Robbie sighs, "Not until we find out the truth."

"Oh, by the way, one more thing,"

"Yeah..." Robbie felt his head hit the hard steering wheel as his head bounces off. He looks at Derek with pain. "OW! What was that for?!"

"You know what that was for!" Derek says. "Go. Go!" Still in pain, Robbie gets out of the car and walks to the door.

_**[Game]**_

As Ryder gets ready, Andre goes to sit by him. He puts his stuff down at looks at him. Andre sighs and leans forward to whisper, "It's the bite that does it, isn't it?"

"Yes." Ryder hesitantly whispers.

"Well, then that's easy."

"No, it's not. I can't be the one to do it, okay? It has to be...it has to be an alpha."

"Well, then you get him to do it."

"I don't even know how he is. Okay, trust me; this whole thing is so much more complicated than you think." Ryder speaks. "There are others; hunters."

"Hunting what? What hunters?" Andre asked.

"Werewolf hunters..." Ryder answers, causing Andre to snicker.

"Oh, my god, you've got to be kidding me." Andre mutters.

"No, jerkoff...!" Ryder shouts. "There's a whole family of them and they carry assault rifles. Don't you get that; assault rifles." Ryder looks back at the Wests and Andre looks the same direction when Ryder turns away. He figures that the Wests are the werewolf hunters.

"Them?" Andre questions.

"What?" Ryder scoffs. "No, no."

"Oh, God, that actually makes since. Jade West...her middle name is Argent; Jade Argent West. Oh, my god, you don't get it! You've known her this long and you never actually asked her for her full name, idiot." Ryder shrugs. Andre continues. "Do you know what Argent means in French? It means silver."

_**[Hospital]**_

Robbie walks through the empty halls of the hospital, talking on the phone with Derek. "Yeah, I said I can't find her." Robbie responds, still looking for Melissa.

"_Look, ask for Jennifer. She's been looking after my uncle."_ Robbie walks to the doorway of Peter's room and it's empty.

"Yeah, well, he's not here either."

"What?"

"He's not here. He's gone, Derek."

"_Robbie, get out of there right now. It's him! He's the alpha! Get out!" _

Robbie backs away a little and jumps when he sees the half-burned man staring at him, leaning on the wall. "You must be Robbie."

Robbie slowly backs away a little bit further and starts to run away, but stops dead in his tracks when he sees Jennifer. "What are you doing here?" Jennifer asks. "Visiting hours is over." Her voice was filled with venom.

"You...and him...you're the one who...Oh, my...and he's...Oh, my God, I'm gonna die." He isn't able to wrap his head around it. Jennifer is suddenly punched in the face by Derek's elbow and gives his uncle a sour glare.

"That's not nice." Peter declares. "She's my nurse."

"She's a psychotic witch helping you kill people." Derek comments before turning his attention to Robbie. "Get out of the way."

"You think I killed Laura on purpose, one of my own family?" Derek growls and jumps over Robbie, who got on the ground. He starts to beat Peter up, but Peter is able to become stronger and powerful. They take turns smashing each other against the walls. Robbie starts to crawl away, but goes back once he sees the dead woman on the floor.

Derek is still on the floor when Peter picks him up by the neck. "My mind and personality were literally burned out of me." He says as Derek struggles. "I was being driven by pure instinct." He drops Derek and bends down to get the keys out of Jennifer's pocket. Derek gets up and gets in front of him.

"You want forgiveness?" Derek punches him.

"I want understanding." Peter flips him over and as he coughs a little blood on the floor, Derek crawls away.

"Do you have any idea what it was like for me during these years, when I was slowly healing cell by cell, while even more slowly coming back to consciousness. Yes, becoming an alpha, taking that from Laura pushed me over a plateau in the healing process. I can't help that." Derek suddenly swings a punch at him, but he catches his arm. Bones crunch as he squeezes Derek's hand tight. "I tried to tell you what was happening. I tried to warn you." He throws Derek airborne to the other side of the hospital.

_**[School]**_

"It was six years ago, and in my defense, it was before I'd gotten sober." Adrian explains to Sheriff as he sits at his desk, back turned to him.

"Listen, I have my son's first Lacrosse game to get to. What do you say we just focus on the details, huh?"

"I met her at a bar and we had a lot of drinks; _a lot_. She started asking me what I do and she kept asking questions. Do you have any idea what that's like? Do you know what it's like to have someone actually interested in the topic of chemistry after staring at all these vacant faces day after day?"

"Details..."

"Like I said, I talked. It was fascinating stuff. How you could melt away the lock of a bank vault. How you could dissolve a body and get away with murder."

"How you could start a fire and get away with arson?" Sheriff asked.

"A week later, the Hale house burns down."

"You know, you could have said something."

"And be an accomplice?" Adrian asked. "It would have ended my teaching career."

Sheriff asks, "You didn't know her name or where she was from?"

"No!" Harris yelled. "It's exactly what Laura Hale's asked. I'll point you in the same direction that I pointed her."

"What is this?"

"The necklace the girl was wearing, that's the symbol on it. I asked her about it and she said it was a family thing. When you find the girl wearing that necklace, she's your arsonist."

"Murderer..." Sheriff trails off.

"Excuse me?"

"Arson happens to be property; this girl's a murder."

_**[Hospital]**_

"I was going to wait for a dramatic flair, but," Peter says as Derek leans against a wall half-way. He flips over a mirror and suddenly, his burns heal. "When you look this good, why wait?" He turns his attention to Derek. "Derek, you have to give me a chance to explain. After all, we are family."

"Yeah, sadly..."

_**[**__**Lacrosse Game**__**]**_

"Now, this is what I like to see, rivals turned allies." Coach Finstock tells the team as they circle around him. "You know there's no _me _in _team_ right, kids?"

"Yes, there is, Coach." Ryder jokes.

"Okay, smart-butt, how about this? No A in econ if no win on the field? Good? Huh? Perfect. Good." Coach responds.

"So, what are you gonna do?" Ryder asks Andre.

"Well, I'm gonna give you a chance to give me what I want. What's three days, huh? 72 hours. That's all you get, Ryder. 72 hours."

"What if I can't?"

"Oh, come on, Daniels. That's not a winning attitude."

"Let's go! Huddle up! Let's go!" Coach shouts. "Big night...! Big night...!"

_**[Bleachers]**_

On the bleachers sit Jade, Kate, and Chris who have come to the game. Jade points to Andre when she finds him, "That one, that's Andre."

"Holy hotness," Kate comments. "Oh, if I was in high school again, maybe just a substitute teacher."

"You are sick!" Jade shouts quietly.

"You should be all over that." Kate suddenly notices the scratches on Andre's neck. Kate leans over to Chris and whispers, "Chris, remember how we were talking about a second beta, only younger?"

"Yes."

"Can you get turned by a scratch?"

"You could if the claws go deep enough."

"I wonder how deep those went."

_**[Field]**_

"Ready? Say it so they can hear it!" Everyone puts their hands in a circle. "What are we?"

"We are Lacrosse!"

"Alright, take the field, let's go!"

**A/N: Are you shocked about who the Alpha is?**

**Guest: Is Tori related to Jade?**

**Me: No...No. No offense, but that's kind of a stupid question. Why would you think that?**


	13. Co-Captain

Chapter 13 - Co-Captain

_**[After the Game]**_

"Robbie. Robbie! Has anyone seen Robbie?" Ryder tried to get through the crowd as the Hollywood Arts fans cheered after a very successful game. "Has anyone seen Robbie?" Ryder runs into Jade who congratulates him for doing a great job.

Jade compliments, "Uh, you were pretty awesome out there."

"Thanks, you too, I mean...that's not what I meant."

"No, no, I did some pretty awesome cheering." Jade chuckled. "You can thank me."

"You did?"

"Totally, I went from "Go, team, go" to "Defense" without a breath. I brought my A game." Jade is suddenly hauled away by her dad as a Lacrosse player started to shout while walking to Ryder.

"State, state, state, state..." The lacrosse player dies down when Ryder's death glare scares him. He walks away just as Andre walks over.

"Oh, isn't that just heartbreaking?" Andre asked. "Gosh, I bet it causes a lot of sleepless nights. You know what, though, Daniels? I actually sympathize, which is why I'm gonna make this mutually beneficial. You give me what I want and, uh, I'll help you get her back."

"What?" Ryder was taken aback.

"Well, three days makes it just in time for the winter formal. Uh, think about you taking her instead of me and also thing about all the things you have to do to get her out of some tight dress by the end of the night. Let's see how this could work for everybody. Three days, Daniels. Have fun." The locker room empties and suddenly, the lights go off.

"Danny?" Ryder questions. He walks further until he sees Derek. "What the...! Thank god. Where have you been? Do you have any idea what's going on?"

"I really don't get Lacrosse." Peter says, coming out of the darkness and holding a Lacrosse stick.

"It was you..." Ryder starts to say.

"When I was in high school, we played Lacrosse. I have a little conflict of my own to resolve, Ryder, but I need your help to do it."

"I'm not helping you kill people." Ryder declares.

"Well, I don't want to kill all of them. I just want to kill the responsible ones and that doesn't have to include..."

"Jade." Derek finished for him.

Ryder asked, "You're on his side? Are you forgetting the part where he killed your sister?"

"It was a mistake."

"What?" Ryder questions.

"It happens." Derek responds.

"Ryder, I think you're getting the wrong impression of us. We really just want to help you reach your full potential."

"You're trying to help by killing my friends? FYI, I got dumped because of that." He says and Derek just rolls his eyes.

"Sometimes, the people closest to you can be the ones holding you back the most." Peter wises.

"If they're holding me back from becoming a psychotic nut job like you, I'm okay with that."

"Maybe..." Peter walks towards him. "You could try and see things from my perspective. Peter and Derek leave as soon as Peter stabs his claws in the back of Ryder's neck, making him see all of his memories from the house fire to killing Laura.

Later, Ryder is sitting on the bench in the locker room when Robbie run in quickly, saying, "Dude, we have a huge problem."

"Trust me...I know."

_**[Jade's House]**_

Jade wakes up after rolling in the sheets while having dreams about Ryder. She looks at the ceiling until she realizes that she hasn't really been wearing her necklace for a while. She sits up and looks down at her chest. She gets out of bed and walks to her desk. She looks inside the book, but the necklace isn't there.

She puts on her TOMS and jacket before walking into the garage with her keys. She gets in her car and first checks the center console before hearing the garage door open. She lowers her seat as Kate and Chris walk to the guns and supplies, having a conversation.

"It hasn't been an issue since we moved here." Chris objects.

Kate responds, "All I'm saying is that firing those things so close is bound to draw some attention."

"These things have saved my life more than once," Chris says. "I know how to be inconspicuous when I need to."

"This is coming from a man whose preferred weapon is a crossbow." Kate comments. "You know, these extra skills are something you could be teaching your daughter." Hearing that, Jade arches her eyebrow. Kate grabs an arrowhead on the table.

"Not yet."

Kate asks, "Ever...?"

"Not yet." Chris starts to walk to the door of the garage. Jade lowers a bit when Kate suddenly looks at the car. "Are you coming?" He asked.

"Yeah, I'm coming." Kate turns around and walks in, barely closing the garage door. As soon as the coast is clear, Jade gets out and walks to the table. She picks up the arrowhead and behind her, Kate pokes her head in, not saying a word.

_**[Forest - Next Day]**_

"What does that do?" Cat asks as Jade screws on an arrow head on an arrow. Cat and Jade were in the woods. Cat was really expecting to go to a regular errand before they went shopping, but Cat had other plans in mind.

"We're about to find out." Jade pulls the arrow on the crossbow after getting it all set. Releasing it, it plunges into the tree, exploding.

"What was that?"

"I don't know." Jade responds as she's putting on a smirk.

"Well, that was fun." Cat clapped her hands and walked closer to Jade. "Any more lethal weapons you wanna try out?" When she finishes, a twig snaps in the distance. Cat starts to get freaked out a little.

"Hold this." Jade carefully hands the crossbow over to her as Cat stands frozen.

"What? Why?"

"I thought I head something."

"So, what if heard something?"

"So, I want to find out what that something is." Jade says. "Don't worry, it's probably nothing.

"What if that nothing is nothing and that something is something dangerous?"

"Shoot it." Jade says bluntly before walking further away. As Jade walks further into the fog, getting out of sight from Cat, something watches her. Jade turns around and suddenly uses her stun gun on Ryder. Ryder falls to the ground as Jade runs over to him and kneels down next to him.

"Ryder!" Jade shouts as he groans.

"Trigger finger!" Ryder struggles. Jade puts down the gun and looks at Ryder.

"I'm so, so, so, so sorry." Jade apologizes.

Ryder responds, "Oh, no, it's my fault. It's totally my fault."

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine."

"I didn't know it was you." Jade responds. "If I would have known it was you, I..."

"You would've still pulled the trigger?"

"No, of course not...! Seriously, I'm so sorry." Jade apologizes and takes the little things out of Ryder's chest. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"Yeah, I think so." Ryder sits up.

"What were you doing here anyway?" Jade wondered. "Were you following us?"

"No, not at all, um, your dad told me that you run this trail sometimes and I was hoping to catch you alone."

"By following me...?"

"Well, yeah."

"What for...?"

"Well, I found this at school." Ryder takes the necklace out of his pocket. Jade gasps and grabs it.

"Thank God!" Jade shouted. "I was beginning to think it was stolen."

"No, no just lost. It was definitely not stolen by anyone." Jade chuckles once she puts it on.

"Well, thank you for finding it and bring it."

"You don't...think I'm a total stalker, do you?" Ryder asked.

"Hmm, no," Jade nods her head. "I just think you're weird like you always are." After a couple seconds of silence, Jade gives Ryder a tight hug. Jade missed this; just being able to hug Ryder. She feels Ryder hug back and they start rocking each other. Jade suddenly pulls away and grabs her stun gun. "I better get back to Cat." She speaks, walking away.

_**[Robbie's Home - Night]**_

Robbie, being crazy as if he was drunk, ran into the kitchen and almost slipped while opening the refrigerator. She grabs a drink and some cold food, walking away, but comes back when he sees his dad working on more information for the Hale house arson.

"What are you doing?" Robbie asked, walking in.

"I'm doing work."

"Is there anything I can help with?" Robbie offered.

"You know, if you poured me an ounce of whiskey that would be awfully nice." Robbie walked to the cabinet and grabbed a glass cup. She opened the refrigerator and grabbed the whiskey.

"Any leads?" Robbie asked, sitting down as he grabbed a piece of paper.

"Hey!" He slapped his hand away.

"Ow!"

"You know I can't discuss that with you." Sheriff speaks. "Not too much." He adds while Robbie pours the whiskey.

"Okay." Robbie hands the cup over to him. "There you go dad."

"Thanks."

"Bottoms up..." When Papa Shapiro is under the influence of the whiskey, he spills come things to Robbie.

"You know, Derek Hale would be a hell of a lot easier to catch if we could get an actual picture of him."

"How do you not have a picture of him?" Robbie asked.

"It's the weirdest thing. It's like every time we try to get a mug shot, it's like two laser beams were pointing at the camera."

"Nice" Robbie mumbles when he grabs a mug shot of Derek from where they got him arrested when they thought he killed his sister.

"Oh, my god...oh, god, that ounce hit me like a brick. I have said way too much and if you repeat any of that..."

"Dad...it's me. I'm not gonna say anything. Come on."

"See, the thing is they're all connected. I mean, the bus driver that got killed, he was an insurance investigator assigned to the Hale House fire.

Robbie leans forward to read a sheet of paper. "Garrison Myers; terminated under suspicion of fraud." He reads.

"That's exactly right."

"Who else...?" Robbie wonders.

"The video store clerk who got his throat slashed; he's a convicted felon, history of arson."

"What about the other two guys who got killed in the woods?"

"Priors all over their records including..."

"Arson..." Robbie finished. "Maybe they all had something to do with the fire." Sheriff started seeming like he was getting over the whisky and so Robbie grabbed the bottle and shouted, "Another shot?"

"No, no, no, no more."

"Dad, come on. You worked really hard, right? You deserve it."

He sighs and responds "Oh, my god. I'm gonna have such a hangover."

"You mean you're gonna have such a good night's sleep." Robbie chuckles and refills the cup. Silently, Robbie mutters, "I'm gonna have an eternity in the lowest circle of hell."

_**[Ryder's Room]**_

Ryder opens the door to his bedroom and walks in. He tiredly plops down onto the bed and sighs, rubbing her face. She takes her phone and listens to voicemails. _"Ryder, I noticed you didn't hand in your paper today. If you need an extension, the best I can do is another 48 hours."_

"Damn it." Ryder cursed under his breath. There's a knock on the door and sitting back on her bed, he says, "Not now mom." There's another knock. "I said not now." He walks to the door and unlocks it. She opens it to see Jade.

"Sorry. Your, um, mom let me in." Exhaling, Jade asks, "Can we talk?"

_**[Robbie's House]**_

Papa Shapiro is about to drop the glass when Robbie stops it from breaking. She looks at him and he's really drunk. "Oh, Robbie, there's just so many questions."

"Like what?"

"If Derek wanted to kill everyone involved with the fire, then why start with his sister? I mean, she had nothing to do with it. Why make it look like some kind of animal did it? When that cougar ended up in the parking lot, I checked with animal control. You know the instances of wild animal report were up to seventy percent over the past few months? It's like they're just going crazy running out of the woods. I don't know."

"Maybe something's scaring them out." Robbie suggested. Suddenly, Sheriff gets off task and starts talking about Robbie and his dead mom, Claudia.

"I miss talking to you. It's like we never have time..."

"Dad, you know, I have to make a phone call. I'm sorry." Robbie says. "I'll be right back."

"I do. I miss it. I miss your mom." Robbie turns to him instantly before he could even dial the number.

"What'd you say?" He stops his hand as he starts to pour another drink.

_**[Ryder's Bedroom]**_

"Do you want me to say something first?" Ryder asks after sitting there with Jade in complete and utter silence.

"No."

"Okay. Do you want me to leave you alone for a few minutes?"

Jade moves her glance to Ryder and asks, "Why would I want that?"

"I don't know. It's just that you came in here and said that you wanted to talk, and we've been sitting here for like 10 minutes, and you haven't said anything yet and it's starting to freak me out."

"I'm sorry." She laughs a little. "It's a little hard to start. This is going to sound really ridiculous and I guess I just...I don't want you to laugh at me."

"I would never laugh at you."

Jade exhales, "It's about my family.

"Okay."

"A little while ago, I caught them in a lie. It was a small one. When my aunt first arrived, she had car trouble, and my dad said it was a flat tire, but she said she needed a jump start."

"Maybe it was just a little miscommunication."

"Yeah, that's what I thought, too. But then I found glass on her car like her window had been smashed in. I've been overhearing some really strange conversations. I think some of it has to do with Derek."

"Are you sure?"

Jade nods, "Yeah, I think that he's not..."

"Hey, Ryder, I'm coming home late tonight." Mrs. Daniels suddenly charges in and they both jump up from the bed. "What? What...what's wrong? Is it...is it my hair, make up?"

"No." Ryder responds. "No, nothing, you look beautiful."

"You look amazing." Jade compliments her.

"Amazing...why do you look amazing?" Ryder asks and Jade looks at him with a subtle laugh.

"I look amazing because, amazingly, I'm having dinner for once with a member of the opposite gender who's not over the age of 16." Jade chuckles as Ryder rolls his eyes.

"Who...?"

"It's a medical rep that came into the hospital today. Yeah, we just kind of started talking and the next thing I know I'm saying yes to dinner and really hating myself for skipping the gym last week."

"What medical rep?" Ryder asks just before the doorbell rings.

"That medical rep and I'm not...I'm not ready. I'm not ready. I'm not done, I'm not ready, so if you could please get the door...get the door and talk with him, okay. Just be nice." Melissa suddenly rushes back to her room.

"I'll be right back." He tells Jade and starts to head back down stairs. For some reason, his werewolf senses start to pick up when she reaches the door. Suddenly, she starts to see the knob twist and before she can open it, the door swings open. Right there, standing on the doormat, is the one and only Peter Hale.

"Hello there." Peter greets him as he just stares at him, bug eyed. Ryder tries to close the door, but Peter stops it with his foot. "Really...? Slam the door in my face? Come on, Ryder. Take a second to think that through."

"I'll tell her."

"That I used to be a catatonic invalid with burns covering half my face?" Peter asked. "Good luck with that."

"If you hurt her, if you even touch her..."

"Ryder, if I may interrupt your listening of the top five most impotent-sounding threats for a moment, try and remember that I've been in a coma for six years. Don't you think I'd like to have dinner with a beautiful woman?"

"Just...just give me half a second." Melissa's voice sounds through the hall. "Sorry."

Peter continues, "...or maybe you think that I've come up with an idea like how it might be easier to convince you to be a part of the pack if your mother is, too." He threatingly takes steps into the house. "You need to understand how much powerful we are together; you, me and Derek. Did you know that some of the most successful military operations during the Second World War were the German U-boat attacks? Do you know what they called them? Wolf packs. Did you know that or are you failing history as well?"

"I know the Germans lost the war."

"I think you'll find that most historians would argue that as a failure of leadership and trust me, we don't have that problem here." Peter chuckles.

"I'm ready." Melissa says, walking up to them with her purse. "I'm sorry again."

"Mom..." Ryder stops them as soon as they walk outside. They turn back to her as Melissa responds.

"Yes, sweetheart...?"

"Have a good time." Ryder rushes back up to his room and Jade looks at him weirdly. Jade stays seated on the bed as Ryder paces around the room. "I got to go, but if you just stay, I swear I'll be right back." He grabs his jacket. "I just, I just have to; um, just know that I wouldn't be doing this if it wasn't incredibly important."

"It's alright," Jade responds.

"No, no, no. I wanna talk to you. There's actually nothing I want to do more right now. Can you please stay? Please? I'll be right back." Jade nods and before rushing out, Ryder says, "Thank you."

_**[Peter's Car]**_

"Is everything okay?" Peter asks Melissa, who seems a little bit tense.

"I just feel like we probably missed the turn for the restaurant?"

"Well, I'll pull over. We can map it on your phone." He says.

"Okay." Peter pulls over and he watches as she laughs at something on her phone. She looks up and wonders why he's staring at her. "What?"

"I was noticing that you have the most incredible skin. It's flawless."

"That's a new one on me." Suddenly, a car bumps into me. Melissa gets out of the car to see Robbie's jeep. "Oh, are you kidding me? Robbie!" She shouts as she watches Robbie suddenly get out.

"Mrs. Daniels?"

"Yes!"

"Wow, this is...this is just crazy; what a coincidence, huh?" He says. Melissa laughs mockingly.

"Nicely done, Ryder," Peter whispers, walking away from the two.

"I mean..." Robbie starts to say. "I don't know what happened. You just came out of nowhere."

"Came out of nowhere...! We were parked on the side of the road, Robbie."

"How crazy is that?" Robbie asks. "I mean, we should probably call the cops, you know, do like an accident report thing."

"I don't think that's necessary." Peter says, walking back to them.

"Are you sure?" Robbie asked. "I think I'm feeling a little whiplash." Robbie lied.

"Whiplash...? You hit us!" Melissa shouted.

"I don't know. There's something definitely wrong with my neck." Melissa is too busy shouting at Robbie that she doesn't even notice Peter walk away from them.

"I know you're there, Ryder, and I'm impressed." Peter whispers. "It's too bad most teenagers aren't that smart. It's like that one on the lacrosse team...Andre. He thinks he knows all about us. You know how they say knowledge is power, but not in his case."

A couple feet away, hiding behind a car, Ryder whispers, "Andre...oh, no."

_**[Hale House]**_

Andre approaches the Hale house with Derek behind him. There was a reason Derek took him there, and it wasn't very good. "This is it?" Andre asks. "This is the place?"

"Go ahead." Derek says, nodding a little bit. Andre reluctantly walks to steps as Derek watches him with an evil look in his eyes. Andre turns back to him.

"Is it safe? I don't want rafters falling on my head."

"Go in." It's all Derek can say to make his plan work. The wood creaks as he steps on the porch. He turns to look at Derek again who just makes a gesture with his hand. Andre continues to look at him.

"What's in here?"

"Everything you want." With a deep breath, he reaches for the doorknob. Hinges creak as he opens it. Derek had silently gotten closer to him and slaps him on the shoulder, scaring Andre a little bit. "It's gonna be alright. Trust me."

"This house; it's the same house." Andre speaks.

Derek questions, "What'd you say?"

"I've dreamt about this place. I remember the staircase. I remember these walls. I remember everything."

"You've been here?"

Andre turns to him, shaking his head no. "No, I've never been here. I've dreamt it. There's no one else here and no one else coming?" Andre asks. Derek nods.

Derek grows out his claws and Andre suddenly falls onto the stairs. "No, no, please. Please don't okay?" Andre begs. "I'll shut up. I'll never say another word again. I'll leave Ryder alone. Please, you can't do this! Please! I...I don't deserve it."

"I think you do."

"No!"

"Look around you!" Derek shouts. "Wouldn't there be someone here trying to save you? There's no one here and there's a reason. No one cares that you drive an expensive car. No one cares that you have perfect hair, and no one cares that you're captain of the lacrosse team!"

"Excuse me?" Ryder's voice is heard from the top of the stairs. "I think you mean co-captain." Ryder jumps down the stairs and crouches, landing on his feet before bringing his head up in werewolf form. She looks back at Andre, then at Derek, who had transformed into a werewolf as well.

"Move...!" Derek growls.

"No."

"Fine," Derek says. "I'll kill you, too." He hears a whistling sound. "Cover your eyes!" He shouts. He ducks down in time, but Ryder is too late. There's suddenly gunfire and Derek looks to see that Ryder's coughing up blood. He carefully crawls over to Ryder and grabs him by the back of his shirt. He gets him out of the house before walking into gunfire.

Soon, Ryder feels someone pick him up. "Stop." He orders, drowsy, but soon hears Dr. Deaton's voice responds, "Don't worry, Ryder. Everything's gonna be okay."

_**[Jade]**_

Jade lies on Ryder's bed while looking on her phone. She looks at the time and it's been almost two hours since Ryder had left. She gets up and her phone suddenly beeps. She looks at it to see a text from Kate.

_Kate (Mobile)_

_We need to talk _

Soon, Jade meets Kate in an underground cave and they stop in front of a sliding door. "What is this place?" Jade asks, full of curiosity.

"Let's start with the basics. You know how every family has its secrets? Ours are a little different." She opens the sliding door and walks into the room. Jade stands at the doorway as Kate turns on the light. There, chained up in werewolf form, is Derek Hale.

"Isn't he beautiful?" Kate asks menacingly."


	14. Formality

Chapter 14 - Formality

Jade drives down the road in the room as she thinks about the last few minutes with her Aunt. She couldn't believe it; she actually saw Derek Hale in werewolf form.

_**Flashback**_

"_What are you doing to him?" Jade asks, staring at Derek. "Is that gonna kill him?" _

"_Oh, come on, kiddo. Don't get all ethical on me now." Kate speaks. _

"_What is he?" Jade asked, full of wonder. _

"_Shape shifter, Lycan, Werewolf," Kate laughs. "To me, he's just another dumb animal." Kate gets up and walks to Derek. She opens one side of his mouth and looks at Jade. "See this right here? These are canines, also known as fangs, made for tearing and rending of flesh. It's not something you'd find on those cute little leaves, eating herbivores, is it?" _

"_This is a joke to you?" Jade asks, feeling bad for Derek. _

"_Sweetheart, there are werewolves running around the world. Everything's a joke to me. How else do you think I stay sane?" _

"_So, it was him at the high school and all the other animal attacks?" Jade asked, shifting her eyes from Derek to Kate and from Kate to Derek. _

"_There are actually three of them. Another one like him called a Beta and then there's the alpha. Alpha's the pack leader; it's bigger, stronger, and nastier. Those are the real ugly ones." _

"_Oh, God, not now," Jade puts her hand on her forehead. "When were they gonna tell me?" _

"_They still haven't decided if they're gonna tell you." _

"_Why?" _

"_Let's just say if you react badly when you find out, that's not good." _

"_What do you mean not well?" _

"_They don't think you can handle it. They look at you and they see this frightened little girl who's gonna run crying in the corner when she finds out the truth. What I see is natural talent." Kate cranks up the volts and Jade cringes when she hears Derek scream in pain. "Jade, you said you wanted to feel powerful, right, now's your chance." _

"_What am I supposed to do?" Jade asks as Kate walks over to her. _

"_Go to school and do your homework. Go to the formal on Friday night. Be a normal teenage girl who doesn't know anything. Trust me to get ready for the next part." _

"_What's the next part?" _

"_You're gonna help me catch the second Beta."_

_**End of Flashback**_

"Jade? Are you alright?" Sheriff Shapiro asks when she pulls over.

"Yeah, sorry, I was going so fast. I- I didn't realize..." Jade starts tearing up and her voice cracks.

"Oh, no," Sheriff sighs. "Uh - okay, alright, uh - Listen, you weren't going that fast, just, uh, 75 in a 25 in a construction zone."

"Oh, God," Jade says. "Uh, I'm not crying to get out of the ticket. I just, I don't want to you to think I'm like this..."

"No, it's okay, perfectly okay. It's uh..." Sheriff stops.

"No, please. Write me a ticket." Jade begged. "I need to write me a ticket, okay?"

"Okay. I don't see how that is gonna really make you feel a lot better." He says as he writes her a notepad.

"It's so humiliating. I swear I'm not like this."

"I understand." He responds.

"This isn't me. This- this is - this is not me. This is not me. I'm okay."

"Yeah...?"

"Yeah, I'm okay. I'm okay."

"Do I still have to write you a ticket?" He asks.

_**[Animal Clinic**_

"Welcome back to the land of consciousness." Deaton says when he sees the Ryder has awakened. Ryder jumps up but starts losing his balance. Deaton runs and helps him back on the table.

"Are you doing okay? Maybe you should sit down." Deaton hears the door open and walked into the main room. "I'm sorry, but we're closed." Deaton says as Peter Hale stands at the door.

"Hi there, I'm here to pick up."

"I'm not sure I remember you dropping off."

"This one wandered in on its own." Peter says.

"Even if he did, I'm afraid I can't help you. We're closed.

"Well, I think you can make an exception this one time. Don't you?"

"I'm sorry." Deaton says. "That's not going to be possible. Maybe you could come back during regular hours."

"You have something of mine. I'm here to collect it." Peter tells him.

"Like I said," Deaton repeats. "We're closed."

"Mountain ash, that's an old one."

"Let me be as clear as possible." Deaton says the next three words slowly with gritted teeth, "We...are...closed."

Peter gives up and walks outside. He knows Ryder is inside. He knows Ryder can hear him even outside so he whispers knowing he can hear him, "There are others who can help me get what I want, Ryder, the ones who are more innocent and far more vulnerable."

_**[Ryder's House - Next Morning]**_

Later on, Ryder and Robbie are looking for Ryder's phone in his house. Right now, they search for it in his room. "Call it again." Ryder ordered.

"It's not here. Okay, so you lost your phone. Why don't you just get a new one?"

"I can't afford a new one." Ryder informed. "And I can't do this alone. We have to find Derek."

"Well, "A", you're not alone. You have me. And "B", didn't you say Derek walked into gunfire? He sounds pretty dead." Robbie said.

"West's plan was to use him to get to the Alpha. They're not gonna kill him."

"Alright," Robbie said. "So then just let them do what they're planning, you know? They use Derek to get Peter - problem solved."

"Not if Peter's going after Jade to find Derek! I can't protect her on my own which means we either find Derek first..." Ryder trails off. "Just help me!"

"You know, you probably lost it when you two were fighting. You remember that, when he was trying to kill you, after you interrupted him trying to kill Andre? Are you starting to see a pattern of violent behavior here?"

"He wasn't going to kill anyone, and I'm not letting him die."

"Could you at least think about letting him die, for me?" Robbie looks to see Derek glaring at him. "What?"

Outside, Ryder hears a vehicle pull up and looks out to see his mom's car. "My mom just got home from work."

Ryder's super hearing suddenly picks up on his mom talking to someone on the phone.

"Hi. It's me. Melissa Daniels. I'm giving you a call. So, yeah, you know, I was just wondering if maybe you wanted to reschedule dinner or lunch. It doesn't have to be dinner. Lunch is good. Or maybe you would like to do coffee, or maybe you're a tea drinker. I don't know. You know, we could also just go out for drinks. Yeah, because I think I need a few after this profoundly embarrassing phone call. So if this really doesn't freak you out too much after this disastrous call, feel free to, um, give me a call." Ryder hears her hang up then start sobbing.

"Is she okay? What's she doing?"

"She's crying."

"Ryder you can't protect everyone."

Ryder looks at him, "I have to."

_**[Kate/Derek]**_

"Come on, Derek." Kate looked at Derek after refusing to tell her about the alpha. "He killed your sister. Now, either you're not telling me; because you want to kill him yourself or you're protecting him."

Kate walks to him and looks at his face. "Look at that sour face. I bet you always used to get people coming up to you saying, "Smile, Derek." "Why don't you smile more?" Don't you just want to kick those people in the face?"

"I can think of one." Derek glares at her.

"Promise...? Because if I thought you'd be that much phone, I'd let you go." Kate says. "Let's see, nothing, nothing, and nothing. God I hate this detective crap." She says.

"Are you gonna torture me or are you just gonna talk me to death?"

"Oh, sweetie," Kate walks back over to him. "I don't wanna torture you. I just want to catch up. Remember all the fun we had together?

"Like the time you burnt my family alive?"

"No, I was thinking more about the crazy, hot sex we had, but the fire thing was fun to." Derek growled in her face as she got closer. "I love that you hate me." She says.

"I really don't want to torture you." Kate says and points to a man with a baseball bat. "But he does."

_**[Coach Finstock's Class]**_

"What do you mean I can't go to the formal?" Ryder asked Coach Finstock during school.

"Daniels, you're failing my class and two others. They told me to cut you from the team. I told them I'd sooner cut off my off my last remaining testicle than cut my best player.

"So-so the compromise is I can't go to the school dance?" Ryder asks.

"Yeah, that's exactly it."

"Then I quit the team."

"No, you don't. And if you show up at the dance and I see you there - I'm gonna drag you out by your teeth."

_**[Locker Room]**_

In the locker room with Robbie and Andre, Ryder talks to Andre about taking Jade to the formal.

"You want me to take her to the formal?"

"I don't want you to." Ryder corrects. "I need you to."

"Screw you. You know what?" Andre points to both Ryder and Robbie. "Screw you too. In fact, screw each other."

"Hey, you know he saved your life right?"

"He left me for dead."

"I got shot for you."

"Oh, yeah, show me the bullet wound." Andre says.

"You know it healed."

"Convenient." Andre marked.

"Just do it for Jade, okay?" Ryder says. "She's in serious danger. I'm talking around-the-clock danger. She needs someone to keep an eye on her at the dance."

"Have her dad do it, okay?" Andre says. "He's the one actually equipped to handle this."

"How am I supposed to do that and keep him from finding out about me?" Ryder asked.

"Not my problem." Andre told him.

"You're her friend too." Ryder tells him. "You are. All that time that you spent with her to get to me you can't tell that you didn't get to know her and like her. It's Jade. It's impossible not to like her. You can't tell me that you don't care if she gets hurt.

"What if I get hurt?" Andre asks.

"Then it's worth it."

"Not to me." He walks away and Ryder sighs as he turns around to Robbie.

"Well, I shouldn't say I told you so because it's not strong enough. " Robbie says. "How about I'm always right and you should listen to whatever I have to say and never disagree ever, ever, ever, for the sake of your wolf-hood?"

"I'm not done."

"You're not one. Okay." He says as Ryder walks away. Ryder meets Andre before he walks out of the locker room.

"One more thing," He tells Andre. Andre turns around and sees Ryder's eyes turning golden.

_**[Jade's Locker]**_

"Hey, what time should I pick you up for the dance tomorrow?" Andre asks when he walks to Jade's locker. She notices that he's shaking and he looks like he just watched a horror movie and peed his pants.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm great. I'm just excited to go to the formal with you. As friends, just friends...just-just friends."

_**[Hallway]**_

"Hey, don't worry, I'll be there." Robbie tells Ryder as they head down the hall.

"I'm still going." Ryder informs him.

"Is that such a good idea? Do you even have a date?"

"Not yet." Ryder leans against his locker.

"Do you have a suit?"

"Not yet."

"Do you have a ticket to the formal and a ride there?" He asks.

"No and no."

"So you're gonna ride your bike to a dance that you're not even allowed to go to without a date, a suit, or a way in with werewolves and werewolf hunters all out to kick your little werewolf butt." Robbie summarized Ryder's plan.

"Yeah, are you gonna help me?"

"Hell yeah...!" He says.

_**[Macy's]**_

After school, Jade and Cat are at the mall looking for dresses. They look around Macy's to see if they can find anything they would like to wear.

"Okay, Jade, what's wrong?" Cat asks her all of the sudden.

"Nothing's wrong. I just...I have a lot on my mind." Jade looks as she sees a pink dress.

"You could smile, at least. Ever heard of the saying, "Never frown. Someone could be falling in love with your smile"? Smile, Jade. I'm buying you a dress." Jade, laughs a little bit.

"I have to admit as far as apologies go, that's more than I expected." Jade tells her.

"Excellent."

"But it's not as much as I'm going to asks."

"What? What's that supposed to mean?" Cat shouts as they walk near the perfume station. Jade stops and so does Cat.

"It means you're going to cancel on whatever dumb, raided-up jock you said yes to and you're going to go with somebody else." Jade saw Robbie at the corner of her eye smelling perfume. She smirked.

"Who...?" Cat asked.

"Him," Jade pointed at Robbie. Cat looks at him and her eyes bulge out and a little frown starts to show. "Don't from, Cat. Somebody could be falling in love with your smile." Jade gives her a little push and Cat goes to ask Robbie out.

"Robbie," Cat starts. Her voice spins him around. "Would you like to go to the formal together?" When Robbie says yes, Cat gulps. Robbie spends the rest of the time helping Cat pick a dress as Jade looks for a dress herself. While she's looking at a black, red, and white dress, Peter comes up behind her. What Jade doesn't know is that Ryder is there behind a clothing rack, watching Peter's every move.

"That's not your color." Peter comments. "Sorry if that was intrusive, but considering your skin tone, I'd go lighter."

"Because I'm pale...?"

"Fair, I mean. You can't call skin like yours pale. Not skin that perfect."

"Okay."

"Trust me, I - I have a unique perspective on the subject. Do you mind?" Peter gets out a pale pink dress. "That's much better. You're not here alone, are you?" He asks. "Shopping for dresses with friends for a high school dance?"

"Formal." Jade corrects. The intercom comes on and the announcer starts speaking.

"Attention shoppers. To the owner of a blue Mazda, license plate..."

"Did she just say blue Mazda?"

"...5768. Your car is being towed..."

"Oh!" Jade said. "That's my car."

Peter senses Ryder nearby and says quietly, "I have to say, Ryder, I continue to be impressed with your ingenuity. Just remember you can't be everyone all the time."

_**[Kate/Derek]**_

Kate listens to messages on her phone. The next one is from Chris again. "Hey. It is me. I'm getting tired of leaving messages. I wanna know where you are. Call me, now."

"Unfortunately, Derek, if you're not gonna talk..." Kate paused and stood up to look at him. "I'm just gonna have to kill you. So say hi to your sister for me. You did tell her about me, did you? The truth about the fire...? Or did you?" Kate asked. "Did you tell anybody? Oh, that's just a lot of guilt to keep buried. It's not all your fault. You got tricked by a pretty face. It happens! Handsome young werewolf mistakenly falls in love with a super-hot girl who comes from a family that kills the werewolves. Is that ironic? Is it ironic that you're inadvertently helping me track down the rest of the pack...again? Or just a little bit of history repeating, history repeating." Kate repeats. "It's not Andre, is it? Oh, no, no, no, he's got a little scratch on the back of his neck. But he's not in love with Jade. Not like Ryder."

_**[Ryder's House]**_

While Ryder was at Macy's watching Jade, he and Robbie looked for tuxes to keep each other busy when Jade and Cat were in the girl's dressing room. A tuxedo lies on Ryder's bed as he gets ready and puts the ends of a white buttoned-up shirt in his pants.

"This is really nice. How did you afford a..." Melissa gets looks at the tuxedo and removes the flaps and sees a duct-taped spot on the side.

"It's not gonna work, is it?"

"No, no, it's fine. It's fine. No one will notice." Melissa says and adds one thing quietly. "No one legally blind will notice."

"I heard that."

"Okay, well, you just come in here, and we can try it. Come on, come on, come on, let's do this." She puts the tuxedo on him. "See? I actually think this is gonna work."

"Really...?" Ryder asks.

"Turn." Ryder turns and puts his arms up. Melissa sees a ripped part on his pants. "And no..."

"What?"

"Yeah,"

"What...I-I don't have time for this! I can't buy new ones, Mom! What am I gonna do?"

"Okay, don't panic, all right?" Take them off." She says she goes and gets her sewing kid. She comes back in and Ryder is sitting on his bed. As she sews his pants, they talk about Jade and the plans for the formal.

"Is she coming here, because you know I need the car tonight?"

"No. I'm going stag."

"You're going alone?" Melissa asks.

"Stag; there's a difference. Well, sort of."

"I'm sorry, I'm just a little, you know, surprised that you don't have anyone else to ask other than Jade."

"There are no other girls besides Jade." He says.

"You really feel that way?"

"Can you just keep sewing?" He asks as he grows tired of all the questions.

"No, no, no, no, you have time for just one question." She says as Ryder gets up. "Come here. Do you really feel that way?"

"I can't help it. I mean, every time I look at her, I get this...this hollow feeling in my chest and it's like someone literally took a shovel and dug a hole in me, and it's the worst feeling I've ever had in my life, and I didn't - I didn't know anyone could actually ever feel this bad."

"I know. Everyone knows eventually. It does go away."

"I don't want it to."

"Have you told her how you feel?"

"She knows."

"Come on, she knows. She knows? Listen, dumb ass, I'm gonna let you in on a secret that most guys don't even have a clue about, all right? You ready? Women love words."

"Huh?"

"You need to tell her how you feel. Just say it. Say it again. Say it differently. Learn how to say it better. Learn how to sing it. You know, just write in a poem and a letter attached to flowers, carve it in a tree, in a sidewalk with cement...tattoo it on your arm?"

Ryder looks at her, one of his eyebrows arched. "Really...?"

"No. Not really. Just...tell her the truth. Tell her anything and everything you want."

"Everything...?"

"But when you do - I'd keep that buttoned. Here you go."

_**[School]**_

Andre and Jade have arrived at the formal and Jade is already bored. When Andre offers her a drink of alcohol, she rejects it.

"I'm good, thanks."

"You want to do tonight sober?"

"I wouldn't mind remembering some of it."

"Yeah, well, I wouldn't mind forgetting all about it.

"Do you know if Ryder's coming?" Jade asked.

"I know he's not allowed to; academic probation." Andre gets out and closes the door. Jade looks in the pull down mirror and just looks.

"Just be a normal teenage girl. You can do this. Smile, Jade, somebody could be falling in love with your..." She stops when she spots Ryder on the roof, finding a way to get in the school. Now that definitely made her smile.

Over at Robbie's Jeep, he and Cat get out and Cat meets him at the front of the jeep. He wraps his arm around her arm and they walk in.

"I think you look beautiful." Robbie compliments.

"Really...?"

_**[Gym]**_

"Do you wanna dance?" Jade asks Andre as they sat at a table inside the school."

"Do I have to?"

"Not the response I was expecting but no, I guess not."

"You wanna dance?" Robbie asks Cat.

"Pass." Cat says.

"You know what?" Robbie asked. "Let me try that again. Cat, get off your cute little butt and dance with me now."

"Interesting tactic, but I'm gonna stick with no.

"Cat, get up, okay? You're gonna dance with me. I don't care that you made out with my best friend for some weird power thing, I don't...Cat, I have had a crush on you since the third grade. And I know that somewhere in that cold, lifeless exterior is an actual human soul. And I'm also pretty sure that I'm the only one who knows how smart you really are. Uh-huh. And that once you're done pretending to be a nitwit, you'll eventually go off and write some insane mathematical theorem that wins you the Nobel Prize."

"A Fields Medal..."

"What?"

"Nobel doesn't have a prize for mathematics. The Fields Medal's the one I'll be winning."

Ryder doesn't seem to be doing a very good job hiding when he sits on the bleachers, watching Cat and Robbie dance, and Jade being bored as heck while Andre goes out to drink.

"Daniels! I see you!" Coach Finstock suddenly shouts. Ryder gets up and starts running. He jumps off the bleachers and runs around as everyone gets out of the way. "Come here, buddy. Come here, Daniels! Get outta my way!"

Ryder reaches Danny and he's sitting alone at a table. "Danny, Danny, dance with me."

"What?"

"Dance with me."

"No."

"Please! Right now, right now...!" He grabs Danny who uncomfortably decides to play along.

"Daniels! You're not supposed to-_" He stops when he notices that it made him seem like he was being judgmental in a situation like this.

"Yes, coach?"

"Okay, ho-ho-ho-ha-ha." Coach uncomfortably laughs. He just gathered a load of foot in his mouth. "Hold on, I was just saying that..." He stopped talking. "Never mind, continue dancing."

"Thanks dude, I owe you." He tells Danny before walking away to Jade.

"What are you looking at, Greenberg?" Coach is heard asking.

"Jade." Ryder says when he reaches Jade. "Would you like to dance with me?"

"Yes, I would love to dance with you." They walk away from the table and Ryder puts his hands on her hips and she puts her arms around his neck. They sway back and forth.

"Ryder..."

"Yes, Jade?" Ryder asks.

"I'm glad you came." Jade said.

As Robbie and Cat dance, Cat pulls away and looks at him. "Are you okay?" Robbie asks.

"I just...need to take a little break." She said.

"You mean you need to go find Andre. I get it." He told her. She walked off to go find Andre.

**[Outside the School]**

Andre is outside drinking by his car when he saw glowing red eyes. He shouted at it. "Come on. Come on! Do it. I know you're here." He fell to the ground and walked to it on his knees. "Come on! Come on! I wanna be like you. I wanna be one of you. Please!"

It wasn't the alpha at all. He finds that out when the lights start going in different ways. Chris West appears. "Unfortunately, Andre, I don't think I can give you what you want. But I have a feeling you might be able to help me."

_**[Formal]**_

"What?" Jade asks when she notices Ryder looking at her.

"It's just hard not to look at you."

"I like when you look at me."

"I remember this one time - I was holding you and you fell asleep in my arms and...I was watch you and I thought, "I could stay like this for hours." And then you started drooling and it got kinda disgusting. And then my arm fell asleep with your head on it and pins and needles started to hurt."

"Okay. Shut up." Jade says, laughing a little.

"Sorry. I just like hearing you laugh. And, uh - I kinda love your smile. Jade, I need to tell you something. Remember when we were talking in my room the other night?"

"Oh," Jade said. "You don't have to apologize. Robbie told me about the car accident."

"I- it's not that. It's about Derek, and it's about everything that you were trying to tell me."

"That was, uh, forget about that. I don't know what I was talking about."

"I do, and I believe you."

"You don't have to. I know things now - things are different. Just - just trust me." Jade says.

_**[Outside]**_

Chris and Andre are talking by Andre's truck when Ryder comes to mind. He doesn't say that Ryder's the second beta but says, "You promise you won't hurt him."

"Of course not, he's just a kid."

"What are you gonna do?"

"I'm going to take care of it. Now, go back to the dance, Andre. Be with your friends. Be a normal teenager."

_**[Formal]**_

"You weren't wrong." Ryder says.

"Yes. I was. The stuff I was saying was crazy so..."

"Jade, please let me talk." Ryder says before pressing a soft kiss on her lips.

"Why'd you do that?"

"Because I love you," Ryder says.

**[With Robbie]**

Robbie is waiting for Cat to return when he sees Andre but no Cat. He walks to him and asks, "Where the hell have you been? Did Cat ever find you? What? What's wrong?"

"I didn't see her. She never came."

"Oh, crud...!" Robbie ran out and remembered something about Peter. Ryder and Robbie had recently found out that he might not go for just Jade; he might go after anyone to create a bigger pack.

_**[Lacrosse Field]**_

Cat walks onto the lacrosse field, in hopes to find Andre here. The lights start turning on one by one as she calls out, "Andre! Andre! Andre!" She sees someone walking towards her and mistakes it for Andre.

"Cat, run!" She hears Robbie shouting as he tried to run as fast as he could. Cat looked back to see it wasn't Andre. It was Peter. Before Robbie could get to her, Cat was on the ground, covered in blood and in an unconscious state.

"Don't kill her. Please." He begs Peter.

"Of course not, just tell me how to find Derek."

"What?" Robbie asked.

"Tell me how to find Derek." He states clearly.

"I don't know that." Robbie says. "How would I know that?"

"You're the clever one, aren't you? And because deception has a particularly acrid scent, Robbie, tell me the truth or I will rip her apart." Peter threatens.

"Look - look, I don't know, okay? I swear to god, I have no idea."

Peter shouts, "Tell me!"

"Okay, okay, okay, look I think - I think he knew."

"Knew what?"

"Derek, I think he - I think he knew he was gonna be caught.

"By the Wests...?"

"Yeah,"

"And...?" Peter wanted more information.

"When they were shot, he and Ryder, I think he took Ryder's phone."

"Why?"

"They all have GPS now. So, if he still has it and if it's still on you can find him." Robbie said. He looked down at Cat and petted her hair.

**[With Ryder and Jade]**

"Where are we going?" Ryder asks as he's being dragged out by Jade.

"Somewhere we can be alone."

"Alone where...?" HE asks. "Where are you going?"

"Over here." She runs to the buses. Ryder gets this sense as if history might be repeating in the bus. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, just a little weird Déjà vu; sure this is a good idea?"

In a minute, you are going to think this is a great idea." Jade starts to get in the bus.

"I really hate it when you say things like that."

"Come on." Jade says before getting to a window in the bus.

"We should get back to the dance. Screw it." Two cars start driving between the two buses. Jade covers her mouth as Ryder's looking at both of them. He jumps, each foot touching the roof of both cars. He breaths heavy and draws up, revealing himself to Jade.


	15. Code Breaker

Chapter 15 - Code Breaker

"Move...!" Chris shouted as he honked the horn. Ryder looked at him before jumping to the other side of the bus. He ran straight from the bus. Once he got further, he stopped and fell on the ground. He screamed a second later.

_**[Lacrosse Field]**_

Peter, Robbie, and a dying Cat were still on the field. Peter insisted on leaving Cat here, but Robbie objected. "No, I'm not just letting you leave her here."

"You don't have a choice, Robbie. You're coming with me." He said.

"Just kill me!" Robbie shouted. "Look, I don't care anymore."

"Call your friend. Tell Andre where she is. That's all you get." Peter said. Robbie took out his phone and dialed Andre.

_**[Bus]**_

Jade walks out of the bus as Chris gets out of the car. He catches her as she loses balance.

"It's alright."

"No." Jade said with disbelief as she looked at him. She now knew that he was the second beta and was the one Kate was planning on killing.

"You're okay. You're okay, baby."

_**[Andre/Cat]**_

Andre carries Cat back the school, hoping she would live. "Come on, Cat, stay with me. Help me! Somebody help! Help me! Somebody help!" He shouts, getting everyone's attention. "Get help, please!"

_**[Robbie's Jeep]**_

"Don't feel bad." Peter says as Robbie drives Peter to his destination. "If she lives, she'll become a werewolf. She'll be incredibly powerful."

"Yeah, and once a month, shell go out of her freaking mind and tear me apart."

"Well, actually, considering that she's woman - twice a mouth." He says and Robbie's mouth goes a gap.

_**[West Home]**_

Chris is back at home with Kate sitting on the couch, watching him burst with anger as Jade and Mrs. West were up stairs, getting Jade's things together.

"Feeling better?" Kate asks once Chris smashes a vase against the wall.

"Don't push me, Kate!" He shouts and turns back to her.

"I thought it was a pretty healthy display of aggression, actually." She says.

"You told her." Chris says as he picks up the glass shards.

"She found out." Kate lies, pulling the last straw. Chris slammed the glass shards back onto the floor and turned to her.

"Don't think I don't know about the clues that you've been leaving, starting with that necklace. She knows because you wanted her to."

"She needs to!" Kate shouted.

"Why are you back here? You hate this town." He says. "I had a network of names I could've called a lot closer than you. But you called first.

"So now you don't want my help?"

"I'm not sure I know who you're helping."

Kate says, "Oh, come on. I'm here to catch the Alpha. Remember the one running around here killing people at random?"

"Not random."

"Why?"

"Tyhurst said that Sheriff Shapiro can connect every murder back to the Hale fire."

"Well, then that's even more reason for her to know, 'cause they always blamed us for that fire. It had to have been Derek and some other relative. But I guarantee they're circling around to us as their last targets."

"I know." Chris says. "That's why you're taking Jade out of here tonight. You're gonna drive her to the house in the Washington, and you will stay there until I call."

"Are you kidding me? You're gonna bench your star player in the last quarter?"

"Get your things!" Chris shouts. "I want the two of you on the road within the hour."

_**[Jade's Room]**_

"I'm not sure how long you'll be." Ms. West says as she helps Jade get ready, though Jade's just sitting on the bed, in shock. "You want me to pick out anything specific?" Jade doesn't respond and Mrs. West looks at her. "Sweetheart...?"

"I just saw my boyfriend turn into a werewolf."

"Alright, I'll grab some things myself." Mrs. West said and grabbed Jade's phone when it started ringing before Jade could get it. She hangs it up and puts it back on the dresser.

"Who was it? Was that Ryder?"

"No." Mrs. West answered. "It was somebody named Andre."

"What are you gonna do to him?"

"That depends. We have a sort of moral code we follow; especially when you're that young."

"Ryder didn't kill anybody." Jade said. "He couldn't..."

"This is all part of a longer conversation."

"I wanna know right now. I want to know right now!" Ryder demanded.

"What you want right now doesn't matter!" Mrs. West yells, making her jump. "What you need is to stay quiet." Her voice softens as she turns back to the closet. "You're catching a glimpse of something you are not quite ready to see, and there are others outside of this family who are not ready for you to see it." She turns to look at Jade. "Staying quiet is the best protection. Do you understand?" Jade nods but Mrs. West wants to hear her say it. Her harsh voice shouting makes Jade jump. "Say it!"

"I understand."

"That's my girl. Now grab a few warm coats. It'll probably be cold up there."

Before she knew it, Jade was sitting next to Kate in the car, ready to head to Washington. As Mr. West walks up to the door, Kate leans forward and says, "You know you can't do this without me. You're not gonna find him on your own."

He ignores her and talks to Jade. "We're gonna talk about everything. I promise. Call me when you get there."

He backs up and stands next to Mrs. West as they drive off.

"Is she right?" Mrs. West asks. "Can you find the Alpha?"

"No, but Ryder Daniels can. And I know how to find him.

_**[Public Garage]**_

"Whose car is this?" Robbie asks as he and Peter stand at a car in a public garage.

"It belonged to my nurse." He says as he lifts the back hood and grabs a laptop.

"What happened to your n- Oh, my god...?" He shouts when he sees his nurse bruised and dead in the trunk. Peter looks at him and then the nurse several times.

"I got better." He said as if he was innocent.

_**[Animal Clinic]**_

Ryder sits in the back room at the Animal Clinic, remembering a few words from earlier that night.

_Melissa: You need to tell her how you feel. Tell her anything and everything you want._

_Ryder: Everything?_

_Jade: Why did you do that?_

_Ryder: Because I love you._

_**[Public Garage]**_

Peter turns on the laptop after putting it on the trunk. Robbie looks at the laptop. "Good luck getting a signal down here. And you're a Mac guy. Does that go for all werewolves or just a personal preference?"

"Turn it on. Get connected." He orders Robbie as he moves his eyes away from Ryder's laptop.

"You know you're really killing the whole werewolf mystique thing here. Look, you still need Ryder's username and password, and I'm sorry but I don't know them."

"You know both of them." Peter says.

"No, I don't."

"Even if I couldn't hear your heartbeat, I would still be able to tell you're lying."

"Dude, I swear..." Robbie gets cut off by Peter slamming Robbie's head on the trunk.

"I can be very persuasive, Robbie. Don't make me persuade you."

_**[Hospital]**_

"Where is she?" Andre rushes into the hospital with parents behind him. He walks to the window of Cat's room when Sheriff Shapiro slams him against the wall.

"Hey! What the hell happened to that girl?"

"I don't know. I went out looking for her..." He gets cut off.

"What, you just happened to wander into the middle of that field and you just found her there like that? Don't lie to me, son."

"No, I-" He gets cut off once again.

"What happened to her?"

"This isn't my fault!"

"She's your girlfriend!" Sheriff shouts. "That's your responsibility!"

"No, she's not, okay?" Andre tells him. "She didn't go to the formal with me."

"Then who'd she go with?"

"Do you really want to know?" Andre asked him. "She went with Robbie."

"What?"

"Robbie took her."

"Somebody better find my son."

_**[Public Garage]**_

"What happens after you find Derek?"

"Don't think, Robbie." Peter said. "Type."

"You're gonna kill people aren't you?"

"I'm only gonna kill the responsible ones."

"Look," Robbie looked at him. "If I do this, you have to promise to leave Ryder out of it."

"Do you know why wolves hunt in packs?" Peter asks. "It's because their favorite prey are too large to be brought down by one wolf alone. I need Derek and Ryder. I need both of them."

"He's not gonna help you."

"Oh, he will, because it'll save Jade. And you will, because it will save Ryder; your best friend whom you know so well, you even have his username and password." Peter watches as Robbie gives up and types in the username/password. "His username is "Jade"?" He asks. "His password is also "Jade"?"

"Still want him in your pack?"

"Wait, what the..." Robbie shouts when he finally tracks the phone. That's where they're keeping him, at his own house?"

**[Forest]**

Ryder walks upon the cliff in the woods. He's no longer in his dress up clothes. He's in blue jeans, a blue shirt, and a black leather jacket with grey on the inside. He climbs it and howls, in hopes to find Derek.

Nothing happens so he walks off the cliff, as he walks away, he turns back when he hears Derek howling back at him. He then dashes for it when he traces the howl.

_**[Public Garage]**_

"Not at it, under it." Peter says, putting the laptop back in the case. "I know exactly where that is." Peter hears the howling communication between Derek and Ryder. "And I'm not the only one."

_**[Hospital]**_

The elevator at the hospital dings and out walks Jade, needing to see Cat one time before she left. She walks down the hall, looking for Cat's room when she sees Cat sleeping peacefully. She hallucinates blood splattered all over the room and Cat going crazy, screaming.

She walks back to the car and gets in. Kate asks, "You getting it now? It's what they do and they can't help it."

"All of them."

"Yes, Jade...even Ryder."

_**[Public Garage]**_

"Give me your keys."

"Careful." Robbie hands him his keys. "She grinds in second."

Peter takes the keys and squishes them together, they ends are bent. He's about to get in the car when Robbie stops him.

"Oh, so you're not gonna kill me?"

Peter turns back to him and asks, "Don't you understand yet? I'm not the bad guy here."

"You turn into a giant monster with red eyes and fangs, and you're not the bad guy here?"

"I like you, Robbie. Since you've helped me, I'm going to give you something in return. Do you want the bite?"

"What?"

"Do you want the bite? If it doesn't kill you - and it could - you'll become like us."

"Like you."

"Yes, a werewolf. Would you like me to draw you a picture?" He asks sarcastically. "That first night in the woods, I took Ryder because I needed a new pack. It could've easily been you, Robbie. You'd be every bit as powerful as him. No more standing by his side, watching him become stronger, and quicker, more popular, watching him get the girl. You'd be equals...maybe more. Do you want the bite, yes or no?" Peter grabs his arm and slowly goes for his wrist. Before Peter can bite down, Robbie quickly pulls his hand away.

"I don't wanna be like you."

"Do you know what I hear just then?" Peter asked looking in the distance then at him. "Your heart beating slightly faster over the words "I don't want." You may believe you're telling me the truth, but you are lying to yourself. Goodbye, Robbie." Robbie got in the car and drove away.

_**[Hospital]**_

Robbie ran out of the garage and to the hospital. When he arrived, his dad walked up to him.

"You know what?" His dad asked. "It's good that we're in a hospital because I'm gonna kill you!"

"I'm sorry. I lost the keys to my jeep. I had to run all the way here."

"Robbie, I don't care!" He shouted. Andre looked at them.

"Is she gonna be okay?" Robbie points at Cat.

"They don't know, partially because they don't know what happened. She lost a lot of blood, but there's something else going on with her."

"What do you mean?"

"The doctors say it's like she's having an allergic reaction. Her body keeps going into shock. Did you see anything? I mean, do you any idea who or what attacked her?"

"No. No, I have no idea."

"What about Ryder?"

"What do you mean? What about him?"

"Did he see anything?"

"What do you mean? Is he not here?"

"What are you talking about? I've been calling him on his cell phone. I've gotten no response."

"Yeah, you're not gonna get one."

_**[Torture Chamber]**_

Derek is still in the torture cell as the torturer walks up to him with a bat, ready to hurt him once more. The door opens and Derek becomes relieved.

"Are you ready to have some more fun?" The torturer asked. "To be honest, my knuckles are kind of hurting. So I brought some help. But I need to warn you, I used to play in college." He's about the swing the bat but before it could hit Derek, Derek grabs it.

"I brought a little help too." Derek says and punches the torturer. Ryder and Derek watch as he falls to the floor.

**[Hospital]**

Robbie sneaks into Cat's room, seeing her all hooked up and bruised. He suddenly feels someone grabbing him and pulling him outside.

"Robbie, listen, just go wait with your friends, alright?" Sheriff Shapiro says.

"Dad, tell me." He says. "Look, you know it has something to do with Derek."

"What? But I thought you two said you barely knew him."

"All right, we might know him a little better than that."

"You do realize that I'm elected to this job, right?"

"And if I help you figure this out, you'll be re-elected. Am I right? Dad, come on."

"You know what? That girl in there has nothing to do with a six-year-old arson case."

"When did you decide it was definitely arson?"

"When we got a key witness..." Robbie's about to say something but Sheriff interrupts him. "And, no, I'm not telling you who it is, but yeah, yeah, we know it is arson. And it was probably organized by a young woman."

"What young woman?"

"If I knew that, she'd be in jail."

"Was she young then or is she young now?" He asks.

"She's probably in her late 20s." Sheriff's phone started ringing. "Oh, I gotta grab this call."

"You don't know her name?" Robbie stopped him.

"No, I don't. What is this, 20 questions? All we know that she had a very distinctive -what do you call it- a pendant."

"What the hell is a pendant?"

"Robbie, do you go to school? A pendant, a pendant...!" He shouted. "It's a necklace. Now can I answer the phone?"

"Yes." He says. Sheriff Shapiro walks away as Robbie starts getting scenarios in his head. "Oh crap." He says as he realizes who it might be.

_**[Torture Chamber]**_

"Ryder, help me with this." Derek ordered.

"No." Ryder walks in. Derek looks up after ripping the bolt chords from his abdomen.

"What?"

"Not until you tell me how to stop Peter."

"You really wanna talk about this right now?"

"He's going after Jade and her family. He's going to kill them.

"So what...?" He asks.

"So tell me how to stop him."

"You can't, alright...? Now, I don't know when Kate's coming back, so just get me out of this right now! Get me out right now!" He yells.

"Promise you'll help me."

"You want me to risk my life for your girlfriend? For your stupid little teenage crush that means absolutely nothing. You're not in love, Ryder. You're 16 years old, you're a child."

"Maybe you're right, but I know something you don't." Ryder takes out a piece of paper of a dead deer with a spiral on its side. He shows it to Derek. "Peter said he didn't know what he was doing when he killed your sister, right? He lied. Remember this?"

_**[Hospital]**_

Robbie walked down the hall of the hospital and found Andre following him when his voice spun Robbie around.

"Hey, where are you going?"

"I'm going to find Ryder."

"You don't have a car."

"I'm aware of that. Thank you."

"Here, I'll drive. Come on..." Andre offered and started walking ahead of him but Robbie stopped him.

"Look, just because you feel guilty all of a sudden doesn't make it okay, all right? Half of this is still your fault."

"Look, I have a car. You don't. Do you want my help or not?"

"All right." Robbie gives up and accepts his offer of help. "Did you bring the Porsche?"

"Yeah."

"Good. I'll drive." Robbie and Andre start to walk away but are stopped by Mr. West and he has a couple people behind him.

"Boys, I was wondering if you can tell me where Ryder Daniels is."

"Um," Robbie is the first one to talk. "I haven't seen him since the dance. Andre, what about you?"

"I..." Andre stutters.

"Oh, for the love of God," Robbie mutters. Before Robbie and Andre know it, they're shoved into an empty room and are thrown onto a table. David locks the door then looks back at them.

"Let's try this again. Where is Ryder Daniels?"

_**[Torture Chamber]**_

"Where did you get that?" Derek asked.

"My boss told me three months ago someone came into the clinic asking for a copy of this picture." He informed him. "Do you wanna know who it was? Peter's nurse. They brought your sister here so that Peter could kill her and become the Alpha, and that's why you're going to help me. Just say you'll help me, and I'll help you unlock your other..." Ryder turns away and hears jingling. He turns to see Derek has freed himself.

Derek looks up at him and says, "I'll help you."

_**[Hospital]**_

"Let me ask you a question, Robbie. Have you ever seen a rabid dog?"

"No. I could put it on my to-do list if you just let me go." Robbie said as Chris blocked him against a door.

"Well, I have. And the only thing I've ever been able to compare that to be seeing a friend of mine turn on a full moon." Chris says. "Do you wanna know what happened?"

"Not really. No offense to your storytelling skills."

"He tried to kill me, and I was forced to put a bullet in his head. The whole while he lay there dying, he was still trying to claw his way toward me, still trying to kill me, like it was the most important thing he could do with his last breath. Can you imagine that?"

"No. And it sounds like you need to be a little bit more select-"

Chris interrupts him, "Did Ryder try to kill you on the full moon? Did you have to lock him up?"

"Yeah, I did. I had to handcuff him to a radiator. Why? Would you prefer I locked him in the basement and burn the whole house down around him?"

"I hate to dispel a popular rumor, Robbie, but we never did that."

"Oh, right. Derek said you guys had a code. I guess no one ever breaks it."

"No. No one ever does."

"What if someone does?"

"Someone like whom...?"

"Someone like your sister."

_**[Forest]**_

"Hey." Derek says as they walk back to the Hale house. "Hold on. Hold on. Something doesn't feel right."

"What do you mean?"

"I don't know. It's...it's kind of like it's..." He starts to say but then Ryder interrupts him.

"No, don't say "too easy." People say "too easy" and bad things happen. What, do you think finding you was easy? Getting away from Jade's dad? None of this has been easy!" Ryder shouts.

"Fine, you're right."

"Thank you." Ryder turns around and Derek suddenly grunts. He turns to see Derek has fallen to the ground and he has an arrow in his shoulder. Another one enters and he looks at whoever's shooting them. He sees Jade and Kate. Jade wasn't in her sweats and hoodie anymore. She was in blue jeans, a red shirt with a leather jacket over it. She was the one who was shooting the arrows as Kate told her what to do.

"Flash bolt."

Jade shoots it at the trees and Ryder shouts, "Ryder, your eyes!" Ryder's too late. Derek yanks the arrows out of him and gets up. Even though he's feeling pain, Derek pushes effort to get Ryder away. "Get up! Let's go!" But even before they can get in to the Hale house, Derek collapses but Ryder runs away a bit in werewolf style.

"It's natural talent." Kate says, getting up. Jade looks at her like she's a nuisance. She puts the bow strap around her and gets up, walking ahead of Kate.

"Jade, I can explain." Ryder tells her.

"Stop lying. For once stop lying." She says as she walks to him. She reaches him and looks down at him.

"I was gonna tell you the truth at the formal. I was gonna tell you everything. Because everything that I said, everything that I did..."

"Was just to protect me..." Jade finished for him, looking down at him as the tears came visible.

"Yes."

There was a hint of doubt in Jade's voice, "I don't believe you."

"Thank God." Kate interrupted. Jade and Ryder looked to see Kate walking to them. "Now, shoot him before I have to shoot myself."

"You..." Jade paused. "You said we were just gonna catch them?"

"We did that. Now we're gonna kill them." Kate shoots Derek as she got closer to the pair. "See? Not that hard." She saw a different look in Jade's eyes. "Oh, no I know that look. That's the "you're gonna have to do it yourself" look." Kate tsked and pointed the gun at him.

"Kate," Jade tried to stop her. "Kate, what are you doing?" She tried to stop her but fell down and looked up at Kate's back.

"I love those blue eyes." She said moments before Chris walked up.

"Kate! I know what you did." All eyes turned to him. "Put the gun down."

"I did what I was supposed to do." Kate defended.

"No one asked you to murder innocent people. There were children in that house, ones who were human. Look what you're doing now." Chris yelled. Kate looked at Ryder and then back at Chris. "You're holding a gun at a 16-year-old boy with no proof he spilled human blood. We go by the code - Nous chassons ceux qui nous shassent."

"We hunt those who hunt us." Jade translated in a whispered tone.

"Put the gun down." Kate didn't listen so Chris pulled the trigger after aiming it at the tree. "Put the gun down...before I put you down." The door of the Hale house started opening slowly. Everyone turned heads to the door and Ryder jumped up after Kate aimed her gun at the door. "Jade get back."

"What is it?"

"It's the Alpha." Ryder answered her. The Alpha runs out and leaves Kate standing when Peter knocks everyone down.

"Come on!" Kate shouted. "Come on!" Kate's hand got captured by Peter and he broke her wrist. He wrapped his fingers around Kate's neck and threw her to the porch at the house. He quickly walked over and dragged her in.

"No." Jade quickly whispered and got up. She ran into the house and saw them in the burnt living room. Peter had his claws dug into her neck, ready to kill. She ran in to the room.

"She is beautiful, Kate." He says. "She looks like you but probably not as damaged. So I'm going to give you a chance to save her. Apologize. Say that you're sorry for decimating my family, for leaving me burned and broken for six years. Say it...and I'll let her live."

"I'm sorry." Kate kept her eyes on Jade. Kate fell to the ground once Peter ripped her neck. Kate was dead. Jade started to cry a little bit.

"I don't know about you, Jade, but that apology didn't sound very sincere." Peter walked to her in a haunting trance. Jade looked both of her sides to see Derek and Ryder in werewolf form when she heard low growling.

"Run." Ryder orders her. Jade gladly runs out of the house and runs to her unconscious dad.

"Dad," She shakes him to get him conscious. "Dad, dad..."

_**[Andre's Car]**_

"Hey, hey, hey...!" Andre shouts as Robbie speeds down the path in the woods. "This isn't exactly an all-terrain vehicle."

"Yeah, but did you pay for it?"

"No."

"Then shut up."

Robbie and Andre arrive at the Hale house to see Jade looking at Ryder who has recently just been thrown -literally- through the window. Peter, in alpha form, breaks through and walks out. Robbie gets back in the car and then comes back with a bottle filled with Molotov cocktail. He throws it at Peter but he catches it.

"Oh, damn." He mutters.

"Jade!" Ryder shouts, throwing the crossbow to her. She catches it and then gets the arrow ready. She positions it to the cocktail and shoots. The cocktail bottle breaks and sets Peter's arm on fire. Andre throws another one and in the blink of an eye, Peter's whole body is on fire.

"No!" Ryder yells again when Peter starts making his way to Jade. Ryder jumps up and kicks him which causes him to tumble down before falling beside a tree. Everything is silent for a while as Jade gets up and walks to Ryder. She kneels in front of him and slowly leans in as he leisurely goes back to human form. Their lips meet and sparks go off.

"Why did you do that?" Ryder asks once she pulls away.

"Because I love you," Jade answers. Chris, Andre, Robbie, Ryder, and Jade look to see Derek standing and looking at Peter. As he kneels down, Ryder hurriedly gets up and walks to him.

"Wait! You said the cure comes from the one who bit you. Derek, if you do this, I'm dead. Her dad, her family...what am I supposed to do?" Ryder doesn't get an answer. Derek takes a deep breath as Peter says something with venom in his voice.

"You've...already...decided." Peter places his words slowly. As he says the last few words, his eyes glow. "I can smell it on you."

"No!" Ryder shouts as soon as Derek brings his hand up, he claws come out, and he slits Peter's throat. Jade is now standing with her dad, and she buries her face in his neck, not wanting to see the scene threatening to give her nightmares. Derek slowly gets up and looks back at them only for them to see that his eyes are no longer blue...they're red.

"I'm the alpha now." He darkly says, grinding his teeth.

_**[Cat's Hospital Room]**_

Ryder and Robbie enter Cat's hospital room and she still is sleeping. Robbie tries to silently shut the door but it keeps creaking. He quickly shuts it and falls to the ground. He looks up and sees Ryder looking at him strangely.

"What?" He asks. Ryder just shakes his head as they slowly make their way to Cat's bed. Ryder carefully takes the blanket off the leg she was bitten and moves a part of the gown to uncover the bite.

"Is it completely healed?" Robbie, who was looking away the whole time, asked.

"No not at all." Ryder answers. Robbie looks at the leg.

"I don't get it; the doctor said she'd be fine." Robbie said.

"Yeah but the bite is not healing like it did with me...which means she's not a werewolf." Ryder comments.

"Then what the hell is she?"

_**[Derek's House]**_

"Derek." Andre enters Derek's house hesitantly, having second thoughts about wanting the bite. He was more hesitant of the fact that Derek was now the Alpha. "Derek! I-I helped you. I helped save you. Okay, you got what you wanted." He heard footsteps from the top the stairs. He watches as Derek jumps all the way from the top.

Derek squats then gets up with a smirk. Andre screams and he feels claws digging into him.

_**[Jade's House]**_

Mr. and Mrs. West are standing in the kitchen, looking at the newspaper. Mr. West sips a beverage as Mrs. West walks to him after getting off the phone. "They'll be here in two days."

"We shouldn't have done it. It was all because of that stupid necklace."

"The police would've put it together eventually. Don't think for one second she's taking the fall for something she didn't do."

"We're gonna be pariahs in this town."

"We can handle it." Mrs. West says as she puts her hands on the counter.

"What about Jade?" Mrs. West asks.

"She'll learn. What about Ryder?"

"I'm not the only one he has to worry about now."

_**[Roof]**_

Outside of Jade's room window, she and Ryder are sitting on the roof, staring at the beautiful moon as it shines its light on the town. It's a full moon and Ryder is not transforming.


	16. Omega

Chapter 15 - Omega

Andre rises from beneath the water in a pond in the woods. His shirt is ripped and he has a large bite mark on his torso. He looks up at the heavens with a smirk, realizing that he got what he wanted.

_**[Forest]**_

As Ryder runs on all fours through the woods, he flashes back to an earlier confrontation with Mr. West in which he threatened got threatened by the man with a gun.

_**[Flashback] **_

"_No, dad, he saved both of our lives, why do you want to do this! Stop! I swear I'll never see him again!" Mr. West takes the gun away Ryder's face and looks at Jade. _

"_Never again..." He said before walking away. Jade breaks down into tears as she lies on Ryder's chest._

_**[End of Flashback]**_

Ryder is now running to Jade's house for a clandestine make-out session while her parents are away.

_**[Hospital - Waiting Area]**_

At Los Angeles Hospital, Robbie is asleep in the waiting area with a large "Get Well" smiley face Mylar balloon tied to the chair.

In Cat's hospital room, it seems she has fully recovered and rises from her bed to take a shower.

"Do you need help getting in the shower?" Mr. Valentine asks once he sees Cat getting up. Cat gives him a sarcastic look.

"Maybe if I was four..." Cat started getting up and walks toward him. "...and still taking bubble baths." Cat then goes to the bathroom and shuts the door.

Mr. Valentine steps out into the hall and finds Robbie still sleeping on the chairs. He turns to Mrs. Daniels and asks her a question.

"Has he been here all night?"

"Actually, he's been here all weekend." Ms. Daniels answers as Robbie starts talking in his sleep. When a lady comes to trade a full trash bag to an empty one, Robbie says in his sleep, "You're dirty." When he hears paper rattling, he wakes up and gets the balloon out of his way.

_**[Jade's House]**_

Back at the West's house, Ryder's werewolf hearing alerts him that an SUV with squeaky right side brakes.

"Your parents are home." Ryder alerts her. They hurry and get dressed. Jade acts casual while Ryder hides on the ledge outside the window; Mrs. West enters Jade's room without knocking.

"If you're not gonna let me have a lock on my door, the least you can do is knock." Jade remarks.

"I brought your dress for the funeral."

"Just put it in the closet."

She senses something is up. She checks the closet then looks out the window to the ledge but Ryder has moved further up the roof.

Cat gets in the shower and a viscous black liquid starts rising from the clogged drain. A bang from the hall alerts Cat to filling tub. Once she notices, Cat tries to remove the clog. She pulls up thick black hair but the blackened water continues to rise. She begins to panic and then a burned and blackened arm reaches from the drain and grabs her. She screams out of terror and her father, Mrs. Daniels, and Robbie all rush to the bathroom. The window is open, the tub is full of clear water, and Cat is missing.

Cat screams in the woods and it echoes all over. Ryder, still hiding on the West's roof, hears the scream and realizes it as Cat.

"Cat..." He looks in the distance wondering what happened.

A little while later, Sheriff Shapiro takes statements from Mr. Valentine and Ms. Daniels.

"Naked, as in nude?"

"I'm pretty sure they mean the same thing, but yes, as far as we know, she left here clothing optional." Mrs. Daniels tells him.

"Alright, you checked the hospital, right?"

"Every last corner..." She says.

"There was nothing suspicious?"

"Nothing, she just took off."

Sheriff Shapiro looks at a cop he brought beside him and orders him to do something. "Alright, let's get an APB out on a 16-year-old red-head. Any other descriptors?"

Just as he asks that, Robbie comes over and tells him before Mrs. Daniels or Cat's dad could answer. "5'3, brown eyes, fair-skinned, and her hair is actually red-velvet."

"Is that right?"

"Yeah. Uh..." Before Robbie could say anything else, Sheriff Shapiro pulls him over to where they could talk.

"Come here. What the hell are you still doing here?"

"Um...providing moral support?"

"Uh-huh. How 'bout you provide your ass back home, where you should be."

"Okay. I can do that too."

"Yeah." Sheriff Shapiro says then let's go of Robbie. He passes a couple of men who are trying to get the vending machine that he purposely knocked over trying to get a Resses back up.

_**[Robbie's Jeep]**_

Robbie walks out carrying Cat's hospital gown to show to Ryder who is sitting in his jeep. Robbie opens the door and gets in as he hands Ryder the gown.

"This is the one she was just wearing?" Ryder asks, making sure that they have the right one. "I'm not gonna let anyone hurt her. Not again..." Ryder tries to convince Robbie. Robbie and Ryder really cared for Cat although she never hung out with them. Robbie looks at him and puts his hands on the wheel.

"Alright, just shove the thing in your face and let's find her." Robbie says. Ryder puts it up to his nose in order to find her scent.

The engine starts and Jade comes running to the car. "Wow!" Robbie yells at Jade's sudden appearance. Ryder rolls down the window as Jade comes to his side.

"What are you doing here? Someone's gonna see us."

"I don't care. She is my best friend, and we need to find her before they do."

"I can find her before the cops can." Ryder tells her.

"How about before my father does?"

"He knows?" Robbie asks.

"Yes. I just saw him and three other guys leave my house in two SUVs."

"Search party," Ryder says.

"It's more like a hunting party." Jade corrects.

"Get in." Ryder says, opening the car door for Jade. He puts her in the middle and they drive away.

Tires screech as Robbie turns onto the road. "Alright, if she's turning, would they actually kill her?" Robbie asks with a sense of worry in his voice.

"I don't know. They won't tell me anything, okay? All they say is 'we'll talk after Kate's funeral when the others get here'."

"What others?" Robbie asks, seeking for more information on the hunt party and Jade's family.

"I don't know, they won't tell me that, either." Jade says, looking at the road as Robbie responds.

"Okay, your family's got some communication issues to work on." Robbie then looks at Ryder, who was poking his head out the window, having to fight to keep his eyes open while wind was attacking his face.

"Ryder, are we going the right way?"

"Take the next right!" Ryder shouts over the wind.

Tires screech as Robbie turns the corner.

_**[Graveyard]**_

Beck Oliver was digging Kate's grave with a backhoe when he noticed something moving in the dark. He heard footsteps running.

He moved that backhoe to see with the light and saw claws coming from a grave. "What the hell?" He said in confusion.

Something is charging for him when he is not looking. They flip over the backhoe and Beck is trapped under the backhoe as it is covering the hole. Someone lifts up the backhoe and he sees Derek.

"Need a hand?" Derek asks him.

_**[Forest]**_

Jade, Ryder, and Robbie approach the Hale house. "She came here?" Robbie asks, looking at them. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah, this is where the scent leads." Ryder tells him. They walk a little further.

"Alright, but has Cat ever been here?" Robbie still wasn't sure.

"Not with me." Jade says as she walks closer. Jade turns to Ryder as they walk. "Maybe she came here on instinct...like she was looking for Derek."

"You mean...looking for an alpha." Ryder told her.

"Wolves need a pack, right?"

"Not all of them."

"But would she have been drawn to an alpha?" Jade asks. "Is it an instinct to be part of a pack?"

"Yeah, we're...we're stronger in packs."

"Like strength in numbers."

"No, I mean like...like literally stronger, faster, better in every way." Ryder informs her. She looks in the distance and then turns back to Ryder.

"That the same for an alpha?"

"That'll make Derek stronger too." Robbie moves some leaves aside looking for any clues.

"Ooh, hey, look at this." Robbie says when he finds a trip wire. Jade looks and walks to him. "You see this? I think it's a trip wire." Robbie pulls it up and the tripwire clanks and whooshes as Ryder gets picked up by the rope and hangs upside down.

"Robbie, next time you see a trip wire...don't trip it." He says as Robbie and Jade turn to see Ryder hanging upside down. Jade tries her hardest not to laugh but maintains a slight smile.

"Yeah, noted."

Jade and Robbie walk towards Ryder to help him down but he hears someone coming. "Wait, wait, wait, wait." He alarms them and they freeze. "Someone's coming. Hide." They still stand there, not alarmed that that could be one of the hunters. "Go!" Ryder silently shouts and they run and hide.

Just in time, Mr. West and 3 other hunters come towards him.

"Ryder?"

"Mr. West..."

"How are you doing?"

"Good. You know, just hanging out." Ryder says. "Is this one of yours?" He continues. "It's, uh, good. Nice design. It's very constricting."

"What are you doing out here, Ryder?"

"Looking for my friend..."

"Ah, that's right. Cat's in your group now, isn't she?" Mr. West asked. "Part of the cli que? Is that the word you use? Or is there another way to put it, part of your pack?" Ryder suddenly realized what Mr. West was trying to do. He was trying to get information about Cat becoming a werewolf or if she was immune.

"Actually, clique sounds about right to me."

"I hope so. Because I know she's a friend of Jade's, and one special circumstance such as you-one I can handle. Not two."

"No." Ryder whispers.

"Ryder, do you know what a hemicorporectomy is?"

"I have a feeling I don't want to."

"The medical term for amputating somebody at the waist, cutting them in half; it takes a tremendous amount of strength to cut through tissue and bone like that. Let's hope that demonstration never becomes necessary." Mr. West tells him. He gets up after crouching for a few minutes and then he and his hunters walks away. When they're gone, Jade and Robbie come out into and run to Ryder.

"You okay?"

"It's just another life-threatening conversation with your dad." Ryder says. Jade looks around and sees the thing holding the trip wire.

"Robbie, help me with this." Jade runs to the tree. Robbie turns to see where Jade was running and runs after her. They mess with the thing, trying to free Ryder but Ryder snatches out his claws and rips the wire.

Jade and Robbie look in his direction and stop what they were doing. Ryder lands on his feet.

"Thanks. But I think I got it." He said, smiling at them.

"Yeah," Robbie says, starting to walk away from the tree.

Ryder chuckles and starts walking to look for Cat. He notices they don't move.

"Coming?"

He turns and walks further. Robbie and Jade follow.

_**[Graveyard]**_

The next day, Beck and his father are talking to Sheriff Shapiro. "It's Oliver, Beck Oliver." Beck says.

"You work for your father, Beck?" Sheriff Shapiro asks him.

"He does when he's not in school which is where he needs to be in twenty minutes." Mr. Oliver answers for Beck.

"Yeah, I understand that. But I've got a missing teenage girl, and our k-9 led us here. She's not wearing any clothes and if she's out here tonight and the temperature really drops..."

"I'm sorry, I-I didn't see anything." Beck cuts him off.

Mr. Oliver chuckles. "Trust me, if he saw a naked girl outside a computer screen, he'd remember." Mr. Oliver laughs and Sheriff Shapiro looks at him with a this-is-nothing-to-laugh-at look. Once Mr. Oliver sees it, he clears his throat.

"How did you get that black eye, Beck?" Sheriff Shapiro asks him.

"School..."

"School fight...?"

"Nah, it was from Lacrosse."

"Lacrosse, you play for Los Angeles?"

"Yeah..."

"My son plays for the team. Well, I mean, he's on the team but he doesn't typically play. Not yet anyway." Beck sees Derek watching in the distance. "It's, uh..." Sheriff Shapiro notices him looking behind them. He looks and Derek is gone.

"Something wrong, Beck?"

"No. Oh, no. Sorry. I was just remembering I actually have a morning practice to get to."

"Just one more question. You guys get many grave robberies here?"

"Yeah, a few, usually they just take stuff like jewelry."

"What'd this one take?"

"Her liver..."

_**[Hollywood Arts]**_

Ryder and Robbie walk to the doors as they talk about what Robbie heard from his dad.

"She ate the liver?" Ryder asked.

"No, I didn't say she ate it. I just said it was missing." Robbie says then he sighs. "And you know what, even if she did, so what? It's the most nutritious part of the body." Robbie adds.

"I never ate anyone's liver."

"Yeah, right, 'cause when it comes to werewolves, you're a model of self-control. Actually, wait, hold on. You're the test case for this so we should be going over what happened to you." Robbie told him as he put Ryder at a pause.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean like what was going through your mind when you were turning, you know? What were you drawn to?"

"Jade..."

"Okay. Nothing else, seriously...?" Robbie was kind of getting tired with 'Jade' coming out of Ryder's mouth every time it came to questions about werewolves.

"Nothing else mattered." Ryder answered then added, "But, no, that's good though, right? Cause the night that Cat was bit, she was with you."

"Yeah but she was looking for...Andre."

Speaking of Andre, he pulls up in a parking lot in his car and gets out. He sighs as he smells the air. He sees a homeless guy looking through trash. "Nice car." The bum compliments.

Andre feels bad for the guy and hands him a dollar. "Here's a dollar." The bum takes it. "Go find another parking lot to die in." Maybe he didn't feel bad for the guy considering he wanted the bum to die.

"Security!" He heard Andre yell, pointing to the bum.

_**[Locker Room]**_

"Let's go!" Bobby Finstock yells as Beck enters the room. "I have an announcement. Gather round! Quicker! Danny, put a shirt on. Shapiro, that means you! Let's go, gather around. Listen up. Police are asking for help on a missing child advisory. It's a sick girl, roaming around, totally naked. Now it's supposed to get below 40 degrees tonight. I don't know about you, but that last time it was that cold and I running around naked...I lost a testicle to exposure. I don't want the same thing happen to some innocent girl. So police are organizing search parties for tonight. Sign up, find the missing girl, you get an automatic "a" in my classes." The guys cheer and start signing up.

Meanwhile, Robbie and Ryder are talking to Andre about Cat.

"If Cat wants to take a naked hike in the woods, why should I care?" Andre asked.

"Because we have a pretty good idea that she might be...you know, turning."

"Turning?"

"Yeah..." Ryder answers Andre.

"Into..."

"Turning into a unicorn; what do you think, dumbass?" Robbie says sarcastically.

"Well I think that if Cat's turning, she's not the one that's gonna need help."

"What do you mean?" Ryder asks, clearly confused.

"Oh, god, you've got it all backwards, Daniels. When I was with Cat, you should've seen the scratch marks she left on me. What do you think she's gonna do with a set of real claws?" Andre asks then walks away. Robbie and Ryder turn and look at him.

It's like he doesn't even care about his ex-girlfriend being bit then is missing when she's naked in the woods, Both Ryder and Robbie think.

_**[Chemistry Class]**_

Mr. Harris is passing out papers. Robbie leans in towards Ryder's desk and starts whispering something to him. "Alright, it's causing me severe anguish to say this, but he's right."

"I know." Ryder says.

"What if the next body part she steals is from someone who's still alive?"

Mr. Harris catches Robbie talking. "This is a pop quiz, Mr. Shapiro. If I hear your voice again, I may be tempted to give you detention for the rest of your high school career."

"Can you do that?" Robbie asked.

"Well, there it is again; your voice. Triggering the only impulse I've ever had to strike a student repeatedly and violently. I'll see you at 3:00 for detention." Danny and Andre silently laugh in the back of the room.

"You too, Mr. Daniels...?"

"No, sir..."

Suddenly, black viscous liquid falls onto Andre's paper. Danny notices and alerts him. "Dude, your nose is bleeding." Andre puts his hand up and touches his hand, feeling blood. "You okay?" Danny asks.

Andre rushes into the bathroom and tries to stop the bleeding but it keeps on bleeding. Andre gasps as he holds toilet paper up to his nose. There is a knock on the door and Andre assumes it is Danny.

"Oh, I'm fine, Danny. Just go back to class." There is another knock and Derek breaks in the stall door. Derek throws Andre out of the stall and to the sink. His nose has stopped bleeding.

"Derek."

"You're looking a little pale there, Andre. Are you feeling okay?" He asks as he brushes off dust from Andre's shirt.

"Never better..." He says.

"If something's wrong, I need to know." Derek informs him. Derek turns to his side and Andre moves. "You're with me now."

"Wait...I'm with you? Me with..." Andre laughs then continues, "...with you. What am I, your little pet? I mean, just because you gave me "the bite" doesn't mean I'm part of your little wolf pack. Sorry, but to be honest, you don't exactly show outstanding leadership qualities."

"Is that so?"

"Look, I've got my own agenda which doesn't involve running around the woods at night, howling with you and Daniels." Andre's ear starts to bleed.

Derek pushes Andre's head, making him face the mirror and see a bunch of blood dripping from his ears.

"What is it? What's happening?"

"The body's fighting the bite."

"Why?"

"I don't know."

"What does it mean?"

Derek doesn't answer as he backs away. "What does it mean!?"Andre shouts, growing out of distress and anger.

Derek is gone and Andre looks back at his reflection in the mirror.

_**[Jade's Locker]**_

Jade goes to her locker and opens it. She sighs and pulls out the dress, as it was the end of school and time for Kate's funeral. Ryder watches her from the corner. Jade finds a note in her locker and grabs it.

_Because I love you_

Jade smiles knowing that it was from Ryder, who does the same thing then disappears.

Jade puts it back in her locker and closes it. "Nice dress." Alan Mitchell, a photographer, suddenly says. She looks at his direction. She notices his Canon camera. "Nice camera."

Jade then heard some people talking about her aunt. "Not her sister, her aunt; the one who murdered all those people."

"You mean the crazy bitch killed all those people?"

"Yeah, the fire, all those animal attacks-it was her aunt."

"Are you kidding? I sit next to her in English."

"Find a new seat." The girls laugh.

Jade slams her locker and walks down the hall till someone grabs her and takes her to a room. It turns out to be Ryder.

When Ryder closes the door, Jade cries a little. "How'd you know?" She whispers.

"I could hear your heartbeat. What is it?"

"I-I-I-I Can't-I can't do this. I Can't-I can't go to the funeral. Everyone is going to be watching me, and there are going to be cameras there, and I can't-''

"Yes you can." Ryder interrupts her. "Jade, you'll be fine." Jade shakes her head in denial. "Everything's gonna be okay. We're gonna find Cat, and it's all gonna be good. Just think about it-no Peter. No psycho werewolf killings. Your dad and me...well, that's a work in progress." They both chuckle.

"I can't go and be like this." Jade tells him. A tear runs down her face and Ryder wipes it off.

"Aren't you supposed to cry at funerals?"

"For her..."

"It doesn't matter. You know, you could be crying for you, you know? You lost someone. Maybe Kate wasn't totally who you thought she was, but you still lost her." Jade realizes Ryder has a point.

"Yeah..."

"You'll be fine." Jade sniffled. "I'll make sure. I'll be there." Jade looks up.

"What?"

"I'll figure it out. Ok, I'm-I'll be there. Not...right next to you. But I'll be there."

"Okay." They stand there for a moment and then Ryder opens the door.

"You first," He tells her and she walks out. Their hands are touching but when they reach the tip of each other's fingers, Ryder's hand falls to his side.

_**[Detention]**_

In detention, Robbie is bored as hell and watches the clock. Robbie prepares to jump up when the clock strikes 4.

A metallic creak is heard when he jumps up and grabs his stuff. "Sit..." Mr. Harris says.

"Well, it's been an hour."

"My detention is an hour and a half."

"You can't do that." Robbie tells him.

"Oh...but I can." He suddenly says. "You see, Robbie, since your father was so judicious in his dealings with me, I've decided to make you my personal project for the rest of the semester. You are going to benefit from all of the best that strict discipline has to offer. Now...sit down, before I decide to keep you here all night." Mr. Harris warns. Robbie sighs and sits down.

_**[Funeral]**_

At the funeral, reporters are shouting questions while they take pictures. Mr. West, Mrs. West, and a police officer are pushing them out of the way. "Mrs. West, can we get a few words? Just a few words...!"

"I knew this was a bad idea."

"Well it wasn't my idea." Mrs. West tells Mr. West.

They finally get past the wild reporters and head to the chairs.

"I tried telling him. But he insisted on making a point of it."

"Well if he insisted, then he deals with this when he gets here."

"Who gets here?" Jade asked them. They lead her to a chair and Mrs. West says, "Just sit down, sweetheart."

Alan sneaks below the rails that are blocking the reporters and starts taking photos till a man with white hair on the sides of his head blocks him from taking more photos by putting his hand in front of the lens.

"This looks expensive." He says as he looks at it.

"Yeah, 900 bucks."

"And how expensive is this?" Gerard West says, holding up the SD card he took out. He purposely breaks it and hands him back the Canon. He walks towards the West family.

"Chris." Gerard says as he hugs him.

"Gerard." Ryder is shocked to see the view happening.

So this is the 'others'...the hell. Ryder thought as he crouched down below.

He walks towards Mrs. West and hugs her. Jade is suspicious of who he is. He looks at Jade.

_**[Gargoyle]**_

Robbie has finally been released from detention and falls crouches behind Ryder who looks at him. "Yo." He whispers.

_**[Funeral Set-Up]**_

"Do you remember me?" Gerard asks her.

"Who the hell is that?" Robbie asks Ryder.

Jade looks Ryder and Robbie's way which makes everyone look in the direction she's looking. Ryder and Robbie hide in time for them not to see them.

_**[Gargoyle]**_

"He's definitely a West." Ryder informs him. They look back at the scene.

_**[Funeral Set-Up]**_

"Considering I haven't seen you since you were 3. I don't suppose I can assume you'd call me grandpa. So if it's comfortable, call me Gerard for the time being. But I'd prefer grandpa." Jade cracks a smile but in the inside, she's thinking, What do you want then, Gerard or grandpa?

He takes a seat as they prefer for Kate's funeral.

Jade looks at Ryder and he waves.

_**[Robbie/Ryder]**_

"Hey, you know, maybe they're just here for the funeral. I mean, what if they're the non-hunting side of the family? There could be non-hunting Wests. It's possible, right?" Robbie speaks.

"I know what they are. They're reinforcements."

Sheriff Shapiro notices them and picks them up by the collar. "Ah, the two of you...unbelievable, pick up my tie."

Robbie bends down to pick up the tie. "Got it, sorry. I know, I'm supposed to ask." Robbie says as he drags Ryder and him away.

They sit in the back of his car.

"4-1-5 Adam." They hear the radio speak.

"I didn't copy that. Did you say 4-1-5 Adam?" Sheriff asks.

"Disturbance in the car..." Robbie whispers to Ryder.

"They were taking a heart attack victim-DO.A. But on the way to the hospital, something hit them."

"Well...hit the ambulance?"

"Copy that." Robbie listens in closer. "I'm standing in front of it right now. Something got in the back. There's blood everywhere."

"And I mean everywhere." The officer says on the other side.

"All right, unit 4, what's your 20?"

"Route 5 and post; I swear I've never seen anything like this."

"Alright, take it easy. I'm on my way." Sheriff Shapiro hangs up the radio and starts the car. "Now, as for you two..." Sheriff Shapiro starts and turns to the back but Robbie and Ryder are gone.

_**[Forest]**_

It is dark and the boys are lurking in the woods, looking at the ambulance that was reported a little while ago. They get closer and crawl down on the floor.

"What the hell is Cat doing?" Robbie asks.

They see a bloody victim in the back of the ambulance and blood is on the walls. "I don't know." Ryder responds.

"What kept you from doing that? Was it Jade?"

"I hope so."

Robbie looks down and shakes his head. "Do you need to get closer?" Robbie asks.

"No, I got it." Ryder says when he reaches Cat's scent.

Ryder starts to move away but then Robbie stops him. "I just...I just need you to find her. Alright? Please, just...just find her."

"I will." Ryder then gets up and runs. He jumps the hills in the fog. He then goes to search for Cat. When he sees a long haired person standing, he mistakes it for Cat because of the long hair when really, it's an omega werewolf.

"You're not Cat." He says.

He growls and lunges toward Ryder. They fight and when he flips the omega to the other side, the omega runs off. "Wait!"

_**[Ambulance]**_

A pale hand reaches for the bushes and moves them away. She moves up closer and Robbie notices.

"Cat!" She doesn't hear him the first time. "Cat!" Robbie yells again and all eyes are on her.

"Well...is anyone gonna hand me a coat?" Robbie offers but because of the sight of Cat, he falls on the ground and Sheriff Shapiro takes off his coat and puts it on her.

_**[Forest]**_

Ryder chases after the omega. "Wait, stop!" He keeps on yelling. The omega trips on a tripwire and hangs. Derek grabs Ryder and hides him behind a tree when Mr. West and Gerard come toward the omega. Derek forces Ryder to watch what will happen if he stays with Jade.

"What are you doing?" Ryder asks as he struggles to get from Derek's hold. "I can help him." He adds.

"They're already here. Quiet!" Derek yells silently enough for Ryder to hear.

Hunters approach the alpha and Mr. West swipes out a knife. He stabs the omega in the stomach and the omega is electrocuted.

"Who are you?" Mr. West asks. "What are you doing here?"

"Nothing...nothing, I swear."

"You're not from here, are you?" Gerard gets closer.

"Are you!?" Mr. West shouts louder.

"No. No, I came-I came looking for the alpha. I heard he was here. That's all. Look, I didn't do anything. I didn't hurt anyone, no one living. He wasn't alive in the ambulance. He wasn't, I swear."

"Gentlemen," Gerard calls out to the ones behind them. "Take a look at rare sight. You wanna tell them what we've caught?" He looks at Mr. West.

"An omega..."

"Omega, the lone wolf; Possibly kicked out of his own pack. Or the survivor of a pack that was hunted down, maybe even murdered, possibly alone by his own choice which was certainly not a wise choice." Gerard walks away and grabs a long silver knife. Ryder's eyes widen in shock but Derek hold's him tighter when he feels like Ryder may escape and go rescue him.

"Because, as I am about to demonstrate. An omega rarely survives..." Gerard holds the sword at his side. With a swing, the omega is cut in half, and dead.

"Look, look. Look at them! You see what they do? This is why you need me. Why we need each other. The only way to fight them is together." Derek tells him.

"What are they doing?"

"They're declaring war." Derek answers his question.

Mr. West walks towards Gerard. "We have a code."

"Not when they murder my daughter." Gerard stabs the ground with the sword. "No code. Not anymore. From now on, these things just bodies waiting to be cut in half. Are you listening?"

Andre is choking blood as it spreads all over his face. Tons of tissues with stained black blood are all over the room.

"_Because I don't care if they're wounded and weak." _

Later, Ryder and Jade are standing in the woods on a secret date. Their arms are wrapped around each other and Ryder lands a kiss on Jade's head.

"_Or seemingly harmless, begging for their life with the promise that they will never ever hurt anyone..." _

Beck is going down some random stairs with a flashlight, looking at a train and finds Derek standing there.

"_Or some desperate, lost soul, with no idea what they're getting into."_

"We find them. We kill them. We kill them all."


End file.
